Sons of Ra
by BlackBlade0001
Summary: Egypt was threatened by the Shadows 3,000 years ago. A young wizard's soul is almost taken by them today. Ra decides to intervene and believes that the Pharaoh and the Chosen One can help each other. After OOTP and during Ancient Egypt. Timetravel. Slash.
1. The Sun God

**The Sons of Ra**

Chapter One

The Sun God

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Harry Potter and Yu-Gi-Oh, I would be making them meet in canon and not writing a fanfic...so, no I don't own them, credit for that goes to Rowling and Takahashi respectively. I write this only for amusement and I'm not making any profit out of this story.

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Time slowed down to a ridiculous and torturous crawl. A second suddenly seemed like infinity and infinity was tormenting him. Time didn't move, but neither could he, he was slow, too slow. Weak. Helpless. Emerald green eyes watched in desperation as his greatest dream crumbled down to pathetic ashes right before them, as his only family was cruelly ripped away from him. Again.

**Sirius! S-Sirius!**

He wasn't sure if he was whispering or screaming, or if the sound of his godfather's name was a mere echo cruelly repeating itself in his head. He couldn't think of anything else, couldn't remember what he'd been doing, what was happening. He couldn't hear the sounds of the battle still going on around him. The battle of Good and Evil, it didn't matter, nothing mattered anymore. Not the running murderer, Bellatrix Lestrange, not the Order of the Phoenix trying to save him, not his friends, calling out to him, yelling for him to stop.

Wait…stop? Stop what? He wasn't doing anything; he hadn't been able to do anything. And then he suddenly realized, as if waking up from a dream and just noticing it had in fact been a dream, he was running. His legs had carried him all the way to the Veil of Death without him even noticing before now. He paused for a fraction of a second, hesitating…until he felt Remus's hand trying to grip the back of his overlarge t-shirt. The werewolf didn't manage to grasp the fabric, but the action was enough to make the teenager decide to act before he could actually be stopped. Reckless bravery and all that.

Before he had really thought about it, the boy had already jumped into the folds of the otherworldly Veil. The world suddenly faded into darkness…

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He was floating comfortably, his body weightless and unburdened by any of the pain he had been feeling before. When had that been? How long had he been here, floating in the comforting darkness and emptiness? It felt like forever, almost like he'd been born here and was destined to die here. Dying suddenly didn't seem like such a bad thing as it had before…why had he ever feared Death? It couldn't be quite as bad as an eternity floating in the nothingness, even if the darkness here was somewhat comforting. He sighed. Or at least he thought he did, but he wasn't all that sure if he even had a mouth with which to sigh, or in fact if he had a body at all.

Sometime during the eternity in the darkness, something appeared out of nowhere (not that this was hard to do, since everywhere was nowhere), a small, tiny little ball of yellow light, almost like a small candle in the middle of the night. It was astoundingly beautiful for such a small little thing. Only, it didn't stay quite so little for long. In a sudden flash, the little ball exploded into a magnificent and blinding golden light…a living light.

The boy watched in awe, not quite sure how since he wasn't quite sure if he still had eyes, as something strikingly similar to a phoenix appeared in front of him. It wasn't a phoenix, of course, even someone as inexperienced as he could tell one. For one, it was entirely made out of golden fire, not fire-like feathers, just fire…and there was just something, something in it's essence or in it's beautiful and entirely too-wise blue eyes…something more. No, this was no mere fire bird, this was the Father of fire birds.

An amused chuckle resounded in the air, the source of the sound not at all clear but at the same time painfully obviously being the majestic creature in front of him. _'You could consider me something like that, I suppose' _

Something in the boy told him that he should feel terribly honored that the creature was even speaking to him, even if it was quite clearly amusing itself with him_. 'What…why? Why are you here? Why did you come to me?' _The boy's not-voice (for it too sounded all around him and the Father Phoenix) was showing levels of confusion the young wizard was sure he'd never felt before.

Another amused chuckle came from everywhere and nowhere, before one of the fiery wings made contact with the boy-wizard, for a moment he was scared of being burned to death, until he remembered his earlier thought about Death being not quite so bad and calmed down. As soon as the fire touched him, he realized that he did in fact still have a body, for otherwise it would be simply impossible to feel everything he was feeling. Comforting warmth, a careful caress, a firm pat, a loving strike.

'_I have come to you because you've come here. You should not be here, you do not belong here'_

The boy didn't understand. He'd been here for so long, so very long that he was afraid he was forgetting what he had lived in before the darkness. _'Why not? Why now?'_

The wing retreated, and the boy could once again gaze into the bottomless blue of the being's eyes. _'This is a place of Shadows. A place for sinners and sacrifices. You are neither. You do not belong here. I shall take you back. Back to the Human Realm. Back to Life'_

Hope sparked inside the boy. Life? Back to the place full of color and sound and feelings! Alive again! And then suddenly, the hope flicked ominously as he remembered more and more of the Place Before the Darkness. Sirius. His Godfather.

'_Will you take him as well?'_ He asked the fiery creature, somehow knowing that it would know who and what exactly he was talking about. It seemed to know everything about everything.

The fire suddenly flared brighter, and somehow the boy could tell it was somewhat angry.

'_No' _

One simple word, two almost insignificant letters…and they destroyed the hope that had flared inside him like an inferno in just an instant. _'W-why? Why not? Why must he stay when I go?'_

The fire went back to calm burning and he got a weird sense of apology coming from the burning being. _'You hold no darkness in your soul. You are innocent. Marked, but innocent. His soul is damaged, half-broken already and the Shadows have claimed him. They cannot claim you. Not yet. The Gateway was made to Judge and you have been judged innocent. You must go back'_

The voice was soft and warm, trying to comfort him and still make him understand. This was the way things were, and he could not change it. Well, obviously this creature had never met him before…because he would do something about it, he would change it, somehow.

'_I'll take his place!'_ The shout echoed ominously in the empty darkness, and the boy only realized the meaning of his words once he'd spoken them. Instead of making him regret it, they gave him strength, courage and determination. He would do it. He would, if only it saved Sirius. _'You can punish me in his stead. The Shadows can claim me! I am no innocent, I have caused this!'_

The fiery creature started, it stood still for several moment that might have been several lifetimes in the Dark Place. Then it spoke, it's voice again soft but now also holding a note of surprise and disbelief.

'_You would do that? Give your Soul to the Shadows just to save the damaged essence of a man you only met a few times? The Shadows would devour you, your innocent Soul would be like a drug to them, they crave it. They would shatter you and torment you. Twist you until you were but a soulless Shadow yourself. A Fate far worse than Death'_

Shivers ran down his spine at the description of the Fate he was choosing for himself. But again, it only made him more determined to go through with it, for he understood that if he didn't suffer this, then Sirius would.

'_I will do it. I will take his place'_

Those otherworldly blue eyes watched him with intensity they had not yet showed before now. The creature seemed to be judging him and, finally, finding something it liked.

'_You are brave. Very brave, little human. You would change places with a condemned man, one who is not even your blood. Very Brave'_ The fiery wings enfolded him again, and it felt as though he was receiving a hug from the great beast. He felt startled, but also comforted.

'_I will not let you take his place'_ There was a sense of finality in the words that allowed no room for arguments. The boy still prepared to make his opposition to this idea known. He barely got the chance to open his mouth before he was interrupted.

'_I shall make a deal with you, little human. Instead of exchanging your soul for that of your godfather with the Shadows, swear yourself to me and become mine to command one favor of' _

The not-phoenix's gaze became almost as fiery as the rest of its body as it watched the boy make a decision. Really it was not much of a decision at all. An eternity of torment and eventually becoming the very thing that had tormented him or becoming a servant to a rather heavenly being who had offered to take him away from the Dark Place and back to Life.

'_I will be yours, then. What do I do? How do I swear'_ There was no indecision in his voice, no regret, no hesitation. He would do this, for Sirius, for himself…for his dreams of family and his hopes.

He felt a sudden and brief flash of glee from the fire creature…his new Master.

'_Not Master, little one. Swear yourself, swear to serve, to believe in and to worship me. Not Master, little one. Just a god. Become one of mine. Swear yourself to Ra!'_

A god. An ancient god who had once been worshipped in the world millennia ago. The boy now finally knew who he was talking to, making a deal with. An Egyptian god. Ra. He was awestruck and suddenly felt small an insignificant when standing in the embrace of a god. Why him? What could possibly be special enough about him than an Ancient god would come to save him from the Darkness, would make a deal with him to save his godfather even? Why? He didn't understand, but felt that it was not his place to question.

'_I swear. I, Harry James Potter, swear myself and everything about me, body, soul and spirit, to Ra. Forever and more, I am yours'_ Then he knelt in front of the mighty deity and instantly felt the consequences of his oath take place. He felt different, whole, light, warm, everything and nothing at once. He felt like he had someone with him, inside him, around him, guarding and guiding him. He felt safe and…content. For the first time in his life, the wizard boy had a god to believe in.

The Egyptian god gave a mighty cry of triumph and the Dark Place was suddenly bathed in warm golden light. Everything began to spin, reality tearing itself apart as Harry felt himself leaving the Empty Darkness behind. A voice echoing in his head instead of everywhere around him. The voice of the god he'd sworn himself to.

'_There is a place and a time that needs those such as you. You will be welcome there, in the land I and my brothers once ruled. Go to the Place of Kings and ask for an audience. Show your forehead to the Ruler and call my name, swear by it if you must, and tell them that I have sent you to them in their time of need. Help them and Save them…Go, my child'_

The spinning finally ended, the light finally faded until all he could see was the starry sky above, the dawn just breaking in the east and chasing away the brilliance of the little stars. He groaned, suddenly aware of all the pain he'd been feeling before throwing himself into the Veil, and he was sure this little trip had surely not helped. Emerald green eyes tried to take in everything around him in order to determine exactly where he was.

His sudden gasp of shock was the only sound around, other than the continuous blowing of the wind. Endless amounts of sand greeted his sight everywhere he looked and off in the horizon a great City rose in the middle of the desert, a surprisingly large river running besides it.

He had never claimed to be the smartest of people, but it didn't take a genius to link Ra, desert, ancient-looking city and big river together. Harry knew exactly where he was, and he wasn't sure how he felt about it. Egypt. He was in the middle of freaking Egypt…and if the only sing of civilization he could see was anything to go by (what with its lack of electrical light or indeed anything modern-looking about it)…he was in the middle of freaking Ancient Egypt.

'_Great…as though my life could get any weirder'_


	2. Found

**Chapter Two**

Found

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This was not his day…

'_So, just to sum it up, I jumped through a weird fluttering Veil somewhere in the Department of Mysteries following after my stunned godfather, I met an ancient Egyptian god and swore myself to him in order to save said godfather's soul from a fate much worse than death and somehow got transported to what seem to be ancient Egypt itself'_ It sounded crazy and weird even in his head, and considering the memories his head stored, that was saying something. _'Ok, it's official Harry, you're Fate's favorite plaything…I must be rather amusing to watch from up there, but the joke gets lost when standing on my shoes' _

The young wizard sighed, already sort of resigned to the fact that, yes, he was stranded in a time and place he knew next to nothing about, but then, at least he was out of the Dark Emptiness and, if the god Ra had kept his end of the deal (and Harry firmly believed he did, if only because otherwise all this would've been for nothing) so was Sirius. That ought to count for something.

He turned his gaze back to the great City in the distance and quickly decided to make his way there. First of all, because he seriously doubted he'd be able to survive in the middle of the desert all alone, and second, he remembered Ra telling him something about going to the 'Place of Kings', which he was taking to mean the Palace he was pretty sure he could see even from here.

His mind made and determination once more shining in his emerald eyes, the wizard boy started to brush the sand off his arms and clothes, which had stuck to him when he'd fallen on his back. Only once he started trying to get the annoying sand out of his garments did he notice that they were nothing at all like the robes he'd been wearing before running into the Veil. Raising both eyebrows in confusion, he stopped to check out his new outfit. Fortunately, they seemed to be much more fit to be worn in a desert than tick black wizard's robes (which he was grateful for as, even when the sun was only just rising, he could tell the heat would be stifling later), and made of a breathy and soft white fabric with green and golden details here and there. It consisted of what he could only describe as a skirt, though he was quite sure (and hopeful) it wasn't called that, that reached a bit above his knees and was tied to his waist by a green sash with golden patterns; his chest was completely bare and he would have been quite mortified about that if it weren't for the long cloak he now also possessed and covered said bare chest, it was of the same soft white material and also had green and gold embroidery in beautiful and complicated patterns around the edges, it reached all the way to his feet and even had a hood which was currently pulled up, and finally, a pair of comfortable (if rather fragile-looking) sandals already on his feet. No glasses to be found anywhere, which did surprise him even more, considering he was usually unable to make out anything farther than an arm's length without them. _'Huh, guess I got an improvement or something'_. He found it was rather nice not to have to carry the things around.

'_Well, at least I won't look so out of place…I think'_ He had no idea what the current fashion tendencies were in Egypt, but hopefully he wouldn't make a fool out of himself. He turned his head to the east, his gaze falling on the rising sun, and bowed his head in gratitude and acknowledgement. Ra had given him a mission, and he was going to carry it out.

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Alright, he would carry out his mission if only somebody would carry him to the City. It had been a couple of hours and Harry was sure he was dying already. The sun and heat were unforgiving and threatening to burn him completely, the wind constantly blew sand into his body and face which stuck to him thanks to the sweat now covering him from head to toe, making him feel dirtier and stickier than he had ever felt in his whole life, and his legs were threatening to give out any time now from exhaustion. To top it all off, he was only about halfway to civilization, and quickly running out of energy. He didn't think he was going to make it.

'_You couldn't have please dropped me off a bit closer to the city, could you?'_ He sent the thought and a rather annoyed glare at the sun…the glare was returned and the boy scolded himself for doing something so stupid and childish. Fighting with the sun, really. Although he was pretty sure it was fighting back and making itself brighter and hotter just to provoke him, oh yeah, he could almost picture a smirk on it now. He shook his head, trying to clear it from the crazy thoughts that seemed to leak in more and more frequently now. He was sure it was the exhaustion and the heat which caused them, but he was too tired to really care by now if the sun was smirking, or the non-existent clouds were dancing, or if that little black dot in the distance was becoming bigger by the minute. Pause. Blink. Rub eyes. Blink again. Look. Yup, there was a growing little dot right there. Interesting.

'_Great, I'm hallucinating now, so I guess it won't be too long before I drop down dead or something…'_

He had barely finished his pessimistic thoughts when his body and mind finally gave out and he was lost to the comfortable darkness of unconsciousness (much better than overwhelming heat and an absolutely exhausted body). He was alone and dying in the middle of nowhere, and not even conscious to realize it.

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Priest Mahaad was determined to find the cause of the magical disruption he had felt earlier today, and make sure it was of not a threat to Egypt or its King. It was his duty to manage the security and safety of the City, and of the Pharaoh, and Mahaad was not going to fail, not again.

It had been only a couple of days since the infamous Thief King since last messed with them and bypassed his security to steal from the grave of the previous Pharaoh, a crime most grave and punished by instant death…if only they could catch said Thief. And now this, a disruption of magic large enough to have reached him all the way into the Palace, and to even make his Millennium Ring activate, its pointers signaling straight ahead.

Mahaad had been riding for a short time through the desert before the Ring indicated something was nearby. It wasn't the source of the disruption, Mahaad would have felt if it was, but it seemed to be something powerful enough to catch the Ring's attention. Soon he was close enough to distinguish something lying the sand just ahead of him. He slowed his horse to a trot and approached the mysterious figure. It wasn't hard to tell that it was a person now that he was so close, but he could honestly say that he had never felt something quite like them before. His magic reacted to this stranger, not in a violent or even warning way, but rather, like it was welcoming him somehow. He frowned slightly in confusion but otherwise didn't react to the strange event.

He finally dismounted and approached the fallen person, wary at first in case it was a trick from an enemy, but relaxed once he confirmed that whoever it was, was unconscious. It was a young man, little more than a boy really, with raven black hair and the palest skin he'd ever seen, almost like milk. He was dirty, with sand and sweat clinging to his fair skin, and looked feverish. His clothes were of high quality and hinted at nobility of some sort, as did the golden bracelets and anklets the youth wore. Mahaad could instantly recognize the sings of too much time spent in the unforgiving Egyptian sun with no water or shade to find relief in. The boy was probably some noble who got separated from his caravan and, unused to the harsh conditions, succumbed to the elements. The young sorcerer lifted the other in his arms, slightly surprised at how little the fainted youth weighed, but he did seem rather lithe.

Indecision could be seen on the Priest's face, though only by those who knew him well enough to tell the difference between that and his usual stoicism. He wanted to find the source of the disruption, but the boy needed help, and preferably soon. Mahaad's grayish blue eyes traveled from the figure in his arms to the direction of the disruption a couple of times before he finally made his choice. He couldn't really sense anything malignant about whatever caused the disruption and the young man really did need help, so the Priest was pretty sure it was the right choice to make. After all, he could always come back later to inspect the place. Problem solved, the magician lifted himself and the boy onto his horse's back and quickly urged it into a run back to the Great City.

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When Harry next awoke, all ready and resigned to once again find himself at the mercy of the harsh desert, he got quite the surprise at his surroundings. It was a nice-looking room, with large white walls decorated with hieroglyphs, a rather large window which let a comfortable breeze in, a couple of rugs thrown on the floor, a silver water jug and basin standing on an ornate wooden table and was that?...oh yes, a soft bed and silken sheets in which Harry could just melt. Nice, very nice, especially considering where he had been before. However, lavish room or no, Harry was not really comfortable right now, not when he woke up to find himself somewhere else.

'_Is this going to happen every time I loose consciousness? First I go from the Ministry of Magic to the Dark Place, from there to the desert and from there to here. I've had it!'_

Just as he was about to get up and find out just where he was and what had happened to him when someone else barged into the room. The man was tall and imposing, with slightly tanned skin and cold blue eyes. He was wearing blue and white robes and a headdress that all looked rather fancy, and accompanied by the golden rod he carried in his hand, gave a feeling of authority and nobility. Harry gulped.

'_From the frying pan and into the fire, huh?'_

Finally the man seemed to be done with slowly dissecting the young wizard with his eyes and asked him a question…

…in Egyptian.

Emerald green eyes widened in panic when he realized he couldn't understand a word that was being said to him, and it didn't help his nerves when the man (probably thinking he was being ignored on purpose) only got angry and started to speak more and more nonsense with a steadily rising voice. The poor English boy looked out the window and into the sky; he truly resembled a deer caught in the headlights.

'_Oh, so you give me clothes and good eyesight but you didn't bother with adding in some language skills? You've got to be kidding me!' _Once again he got the image of a smirking sun, but this time he was sure it had nothing to do with hallucinations.

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**Author's Notes:** Thanks to all the wonderful people who have reviewed this story so far, your comments keep me going! XD

Anyways, here's chapter two, and apparently I just love making Harry suffer, even if it's only with something as mild as language barrier. And we finally get some Yu-Gi-Oh characters too! No Pharaoh until next chapter, though *cackles like a maniac and rubs hands together*

Till next chapter! ^-^


	3. The High Priest and the Magician

**Chapter Three**

The High Priest and the Magician

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Harry Potter was familiar with the idea of being in trouble. He'd first been introduced to this at a very young age by his aunt and uncle and had since been in trouble with them for most of his childhood; then he found out he was a wizard and got to Hogwarts, where he was constantly in trouble with either a certain Potions Professor or, the more serious and deadly kind of trouble, with a seriously obsessed Dark Lord. Harry Potter knew what being in trouble was.

He was in trouble now. Big, big trouble and considering his luck as of late, he didn't think he was likely to get out easily. The man with the fancy outfit had apparently not appreciated Harry ignoring him in order to gaze out the window anymore than he had the boy's continued silence. He had marched – more like stomped, really – from the doorway he'd been standing by and all the way to Harry's bedside. Now, the young wizard had been up against dark wizards, dementors, werewolves, giant spiders and the Dark Lord himself, but this man seemed to take intimidation to a whole new level; his eyes alone looked like they were going to burn and freeze him at the same time.

The lifted his golden rod and rather menacingly pointed it at the now-panicking wizard. Harry noticed the eye symbol on the rod only when it gave off a golden glow, and it didn't help his nerves at all.

'_Magic! That bloke's gotta be using magic with that thing! Great, now I get to be test subject for some old Egyptian curses, wonderful!' _Harry still remembered Ron's tales about what sort of traps and curses ancient Egyptian wizards would put on tombs and pyramids, so it was understandable that he reacted as he did – if not entirely smart.

When someone is about to curse you, the natural reaction is to reach for your own wand and try to defend or counterattack. This is what Harry did, or attempted to. No sooner had he reached for his pocket – where he usually kept his wand, regardless of the fake Moody's warning about blasted buttocks – did he realize that there was no pocket in his new clothes and there was no wand anywhere on him or near him. Panic levels went up a few notches.

'_All that time I spent inspecting my new clothes and I didn't think to check for my wand! Stupid, Harry, really stupid! I am so dead…'_ This was it, there was nothing to do but wait for the curse to hit any moment now, he just hoped not to be turned into a dung beetle or something…

…Only, nothing happened.

The glow had faded from the rod and the man's eyes widened in disbelief as he took what Harry now supposed was the ancient Egyptian version of a wand away from the time-traveler and started inspecting it, his face rather clearly betraying his shock.

Harry could feel a strange warmth on his forehead and his chest, similar to the feeling of lying under the sun on a summer day, but he didn't think now was the time to check himself for a fever, especially if the guy's expression was anything to go by. Shock had given way to suspicion and that had given way to anger. Clearly, the man thought Harry was trouble and needed to be dealt with – which to be truthful was nothing new to Harry. The young wizard gulped again and lifted his hands in surrender; only, the man didn't seem to take this as surrender and appeared to expect an attack, so he retaliated.

Harry had spent his whole childhood at his Aunt and Uncle's home, and with those people a smack in the head was as sure as the sun would rise, and several times a day as well, so he had gotten used to such treatment and had an ingrained reaction to it as well. When the man lifted his Rod again – this time higher and very much looking like he was about to bash Harry's head with the heavy metal instrument – the boy's only reaction was to close his eyes and cover his head with his arms. Childish and not overly effective, considering he should have dodged or defended himself, but as stated before, it was ingrained in him by now. He waited for the blow for merely a couple of seconds before he sensed someone else in close proximity and heard a different voice (also speaking Egyptian, no big surprise there) shout something from the doorway. Where they going to help him or were things merely about to get worse?

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High Priest Seth was just about at the limit of his patience now. First Mahaad (the fool) brings some unknown person to the Palace after having gone out to investigate some magical disruption. Now, was it just Seth was paranoid or did bringing someone found in such a place all the way to the Pharaoh's very home seem like something stupid to do? And the magician was supposed to be in charge of security! This was an outrage!

And, as though that wasn't enough, when the 'guest' – Seth privately preferred the term 'prisoner' as it gave him more control of the situation – finally woke up and the Priest started to question him, the boy had ignored him in favor of taking in the scenery. He had already asked at least three times for the youth's name and origin, and about what he had been doing out in the desert all alone, but the boy had refused to answer. Also, Seth could easily notice the look of panic on the young man's face and, as far as the Priest was concerned, only someone guilty of something would panic like this when in such a situation. Hence, he felt the situation justified the use of more drastic measures, and attempted to use the powers of his Millennium Rod to make the boy tell him the truth. His Item had never failed him before and, as he felt the familiar power coursing through him and the Rod, he was ready to begin his questioning again, this time with some answers at last…but it didn't happen. This boy had somehow blocked the power of his Item, but that was supposed to be impossible!

The High Priest inspected his Item, finding nothing wrong or different about it, nothing that could explain this malfunctioning. This only made his suspicions grow at an alarming rate. If the boy had something that could block the power of the Millennium Items then he could easily be someone sent by Egypt's enemies – and a certain Thief King came to find first and foremost – to deal with the Items that had granted them protection for so very long.

The boy was a threat to the country. Seth knew this, he just had to prove it, so he raised his Rod high, sending a prayer to the gods to grant him power enough to break through whatever was blocking the Item's power, and ready to try and use it use more. It was then that he noticed the youth's reaction to his sudden move, covering his head with his hands and closing his eyes. This made the Priest pause, realizing that the boy was expecting to be hit with the Rod and not all that sure how he felt about it – indignant that someone would think he'd use something as important as his Item like a mere club, or concerned that the boy was expecting such high level of violence from him. His pause didn't last long, as a certain Magician (whom he held responsible for all this) entered the room and, seeing the positions of both occupants, drew the most likely conclusion, and it didn't look good for Seth.

"What do you think you're doing?"

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Mahaad had felt it the moment the mysterious boy woke up. The boy's magic reacted to its master's distress – and Mahaad was expecting the boy to be distressed, after experiencing what he did in the desert and then waking up somewhere unknown – and Mahaad's in turn easily recognized it. He abandoned his reading, leaving the scrolls he had been working on in the table, too eager to talk to this new sorcerer to bother putting everything in its place as he usually did. Magic users were not all that rare, many people had the potential to do it, they just didn't know how. Magic needed practice and study to grow and mature, and not many had the means to fill these requirements, hence lack of sorcerers. The boy, however, clearly had control of his magic and was tuned enough to it that it reacted to his feelings and environment. Fascinating. Mahaad just couldn't wait to properly meet him.

When the Magician finally reached the room currently occupied by his guest, he was greeted with quite the surprise – and unpleasant one too. He had already half-expected Seth to be there, as the man had refused to leave their guest unguarded (or rather, the prisoner unattended) but he had never expected his fellow Priest to act so violently towards someone he didn't even know. And the scene was violent, with the High Priest's Millennium Rod raised high and poised so strike, and the young unknown sorcerer covering his head with his arms and painfully awaiting the oncoming blow.

Now, Mahaad was usually a man of calm demeanor and able to keep a clear head in all sorts of situations, but he never could tolerate someone striking a young one (he supposed this was born out of his protectiveness towards both the Pharaoh and Mana) as Seth appeared about to do, so it was understandable that Mahaad raised his voice in an unusual display of anger.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Seth was surprised by the utter coldness on the voice of his soft-spoken fellow Priest, but didn't show it. Regaining his bearings in a manner of seconds, he simply lowered the Rod and turned fully towards the magician, his voice once again calm but also cold "I was trying to question this stranger _you_ brought to our midst. The boy could easily be an enemy of Egypt or working for one, and you bring him here like some honored guest. Some Security Chief you are, magician". It was clear in the spiteful tone that Seth didn't much care for Mahaad or his actions, even if the man wasn't outright saying it – yet.

Mahaad didn't let these comments affect him, he had grown quite used to Seth's attitude during the time they'd both spent in the Pharaoh's service, so it was nothing new. What was new was Seth's interrogation method. While the man was usually cold and ruthless if necessary, he was never outright violent and Mahaad would have never expected him to strike a boy like that.

"By hitting him like that? I fail to see how he would have answered you if you knocked him out or even killed him. A blow to the head with that Rod of yours is no little thing, High Priest" Mahaad's tone of voice was every bit as cold as Seth's own and clearly stated his disapproval.

Apparently, this disapproval did not set well with the other Priest "You know nothing, Mahaad! You are letting yourself be guided by assumptions, which is more foolish than even I though you capable of. But if you must know, I was not going to hit the boy, merely use my Rod to make him talk, he was just overreacting"

Mahaad narrowed his eyes in suspicion at this tale and turned to the boy, who had by now lowered his arms and was watching them with wary but curious eyes. He smiled slightly when he felt the boy's magic reaching out, testing him to make sure he was no threat and then reacting to his own locked magic, recognizing it. The boy's eyes widened a little at this reaction, clearly finding something he did not expect to find. "Is this true?" He asked the boy, wanting to hear his side of the story before he jumped to conclusions once more. Only, the boy didn't answer, he merely looked desperately at Mahaad, as though begging for help with his eyes alone.

"This is why I was trying to use the Rod, the boy will simply not answer anything I ask, and apparently not even you can coax an answer out of him, magician" Seth paused for a bit, looking troubled, confused and frustrated for just a moment "The problem is that I didn't get past trying. Somehow he was able to block the power of my Millemium Rod and if that doesn't spell out 'trouble', I don't know what does" He turned to look at Mahaad once again, challenging him with his narrowed gaze to deny the accusation to his 'guest'.

Mahaad crossed his arms and turned away from the boy and towards Seth, meeting his challenging look without the slightest hesitation. "And yet, my Ring clearly works on him, since it was able to find him. Has it crossed your mind that perhaps he didn't follow your command because he was unable to? That perhaps he doesn't answer because he can't? If the boy were mute, not even your Rod could make him speak, could it?" And this time it was Mahaad who challenged the other with his eyes.

Seth had to admit that was a likely explanation, although the admission would never be spoken out loud. He felt stupid for not having come to this conclusion on his own in the first place, and having lost his temper so easily on the boy. He wasn't going to admit it to Mahaad anyways, so he remained silent.

The magician, obviously knowing that his fellow Priest was not going to admit defeat, turned away from him and back to the boy. He smiled, and tried to look as non-threatening as possible, before speaking in a comforting voice "It's quite alright, we are not going to hurt you, you are safe here"

The boy seemed to calm down a little at this, but still looked desperate and frustrated. Finally, he met Mahaad's eyes with his own emerald ones and opened his mouth "I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're saying"

Both Priests looked surprised at the sound of the young man's voice, and even more so at his unfamiliar words, he clearly didn't speak their language. "Well, there goes your explanation, magician". Somehow, Seth was surprised enough that he didn't manage quite the level of scorn he wanted in that sentence.

'_Hmmm, the boy is one mystery after another. Fascinating, if a bit frustrating' _Mahaad thought as he kept locked stares with the boy. _'Perhaps we should see what the Pharaoh makes of this'_

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"Egyptian"

"English"

**Author's Notes:** Well, there we go, chapter 3 is up! I know I said the Pharaoh was making an appearance this chapter, but I sort of got caught up in the conflict between these three and the chapter was getting too long and since I don't want to rush anything too much, the scene with the pharaoh is gonna have to wait until next chapter, this time I promise ^^U

Thank you very, very much for all the wonderful reviews! You people are great! And I love hearing what you think about the story, or your ideas for it, anything at all. This story is not really planned, I know how it starts and I know how it ends, but everything in between I'm pretty much making up as I go, so if you have an idea that might go with the story feel free to give it and it might be done ^-^

Till next chapter!

**EDITED AND REVISED 27/AUG/2012**


	4. The Pharaoh and his Court

**Chapter Four**

The Pharaoh and his Court

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Harry would have said he suspected the gods found a bit too much amusement in him, but as it was, he didn't suspect, he actually knew for sure that it was true. This little adventure of his was turning out to be much more interesting than any other in his life (and considering that he had fought giant snakes and resurrected Dark Lords, that was saying something).

He wasn't sure who the knew guy in the room was, but as far as he could understand (which admittedly wasn't much, but you didn't really need to know the language to know when someone was mad at you and someone else was trying to defend you) the guy was on his side. Harry did keep a wary eye on him nonetheless, knowing that harm could come to him when he least expected it, and danger often hid behind kind faces.

The two Egyptians were now conversing with one another, probably deciding whether to throw him to the crocodiles in the Nile or not, and the young wizard took advantage of this little time with the attention off him to inspect his unexpected savior. The man was tanned, as he suspected most people in Egypt were, and had grayish blue eyes that reminded him a bit of Sirius's, somewhat haunted but with determination and kindness still hidden there. He was also wearing robes, mostly white, and had an astounding amount of gold on his person, but somehow his attention was almost instantly directed towards the pendant resting on his chest. It was a golden Ring with a pyramid in the center and pointy sharp little things hanging from it. Harry didn't really like that thing too much, it sort of gave off the same feeling as the angry man's Rod, and the young wizard didn't have fond memories of that thing. Still, he trusted this man more than the other, and not just because he hadn't yet attacked him, but because his instincts and his magic told him that there was no danger from this man. It was strange. Harry's magic was always testing the environment around him (probably decided its master couldn't look after himself after one too many mishaps in his adventures and took matters in its own metaphorical hands), reacting to other magics and allowing him to get a bit more sense of the world around him. This was probably the reason he'd been able to hear the voices coming from the Veil, because he was simply more magically sensitive than other people. And just a little while ago, when his magic had touched this new guy, it had flared and informed him that the other also had magic so that meant he was also a wizard…but, his magic was strange, strong but weakened, caged and somehow depressed (if human feelings could indeed be applied to magic, as Harry believed). This was surprising and worrying…what had caged the man's magic like that? Was this what was usually done to Egyptian wizards? Where they going to do this to his magic? The mere thought sent a shiver down his spine and his magic seemed to flare angrily at the idea that someone would lock it away. Harry calmed it as best as he could, and once again tried to focus on what was going on around him.

The two Egyptians seemed to have come to an agreement, although the angry guy looked rather disgruntled at whatever the agreement was. Harry got comfort out of that, if the guy didn't like it then it probably wasn't something that would end in his death. That was always good in Harry's book.

Finally, the other wizard motioned for Harry to get up and follow, before making his way out of the room. Harry was left confused and only in the company of the Rod wielder. It wasn't very hard for him to decide it was a good idea to obey the other wizard (and no, it had nothing to do with the heated glare the only other occupant of the room gave him once they were alone).

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Seth did not like this. This was not just a bad idea, this was not even a terrible idea, it was the stupidest idea ever conceived in a history of stupid ideas. He knew Mahaad was not a fit Security Chief but even from him, Seth had never expected this. Their 'guest'was a foreigner found under suspicious circumstances and who possessed a strange immunity to the Millennium Rod and Mahaad (the fool) had somehow convinced Seth that they should take the boy to the Pharaoh to decide what to make of him (Seth suspected there was some magic involved in making him think this was acceptable at all). The boy could be anyone, he was an unknown and Seth's paranoia didn't like unknowns anywhere near the King of Egypt. Mahaad apparently didn't share the sentiment.

The Magician motioned for the boy to follow him out. The young man seemed hesitant for a moment before Seth's glare sent him scurrying after the other Priest. Seth allowed himself to show a smug smile that no one was present to witness before following after the other two, making sure to keep the mysterious visitor between Mahaad and himself, just to make sure that nothing happened. The boy seemed to notice that he was being kept under vigilance and squirmed slightly under the High Priest's suspicious glare but otherwise didn't react.

Mahaad was making sure to keep the younger man's attention on himself and their route, speaking to him in soft tones every once in a while and, although it was obvious that he couldn't understand a word that was being said to them, he did seem to calm down a little at the kind treatment. Seth scoffed at this.

Finally they reached the throne room and paused just for an instant before entering, Mahaad nodded at the boy encouragingly before opening one of the grand doors and walking in. The boy hesitated for just a second before once again following Mahaad.

Seth followed after them, making sure to close the door after him. It was best if no one interrupted this.

The throne room was occupied only by the Pharaoh and his Advisors/Priests. Shimon, who never left the King's side if he could help it and was always willing to lend his wisdom; Isis, who was constantly trying to solve everyone's present and past troubles; Aknadin, who had been Seth's most trusted teacher; Kalim, whose sense of justice rivaled that of his Millennium Scales and Shaada, who was almost as determined as Seth himself to protect the Pharaoh no matter what. They were the best, the elite at the Pharaoh's service and Seth felt a bit better knowing that they would all be here in case the stranger tried something underhanded.

The other occupants of the room seemed a bit surprised by the stranger in their midst, but apparently trusted Mahaad and Seth enough not to comment until they had explained themselves, not that Seth was going to. Mahaad was the one to get them in this predicament and he was going to be the one to explain it.

Mahaad, apparently knowing his fellow Priest's sentiments, merely waited for the Pharaoh's acknowledgement, taking it as permission to speak, before attempting to explain the decidedly interesting situation they found themselves in.

"My Pharaoh, earlier today when I ventured outside the City to investigate some disruption in the natural magic, I found in the desert an unconscious young man and brought him to the palace, lest he die outside. He has only just awakened and when High Priest Seth and I attempted to question him, we discovered that he unfortunately does not speak our language. I have brought him to you because I'm afraid I do not know what to do with a young sorcerer whom I cannot understand and who cannot understand me". At Mahaad's words the curiosity and interest those in the room had showed towards the boy was raised quite a bit and so did the number of stares. The poor youth was quite clearly trying to fight the urge to squirm under the weight of so many eyes. Seth's reaction, unfortunately, was not quite so benign. It was one thing to bring an unarmed boy (if still a suspicious one) to the Pharaoh and it was quite another to do the same with a foreign Magician. Oh, Mahaad was so going to pay for having neglected to mention that before.

"A sorcerer, you say?" The Pharaoh's smooth voice clearly expressed his curiosity for this stranger.

"Indeed. The boy was obviously born with magic and has even been trained in it, although I admit I do not know how much training he's had, exactly. He has not used his magic so far, although he seems to instinctively scan his surroundings with it. My own magic has apparently deemed his safe enough for the moment" Mahaad answered, his lips curling just slightly into a small smile. It was always nice to see that someone else had been fortunate enough to get their magic trained, too much of it was wasted with lack of studies already.

"Interesting indeed. If he really is trained he could have at least attempted to escape or attack before now, so I do not think his intentions are aggressive" The Pharaoh agreed with Mahaad, and the Magician felt a small wave of relief pass through his mind. He knew the Pharaoh would be just and understanding, but had still feared that the younger mage would somehow find himself in the dungeons or something.

"With all due respect, my King, even if this young man has no ill intentions towards yourself or your people, it still is dangerous for both himself and others that he cannot speak our tongue. It could easily create a misunderstanding" Isis, always trying to be the voice of reason, added. At the last sentence she allowed her gaze to drift towards Seth, obviously not needing the power of her Millennium Necklace to know that for some reason the Priest already disliked their guest.

"Yes, quite right, Isis. Misunderstandings are already easy enough to create when people speak the same tongue, I can only imagine what could possibly happen when they do not have at least that in common" The Pharaoh said, his eyes focused on apparently nothing as he drifted in his thoughts, trying to come up with a solution to this dilemma. "Well, I do suppose we could always find him a teacher if he is willing to be taught, but there might be an easier way. Could your magic not be of use to help your fellow Sorcerer now, Mahaad?" The Pharaoh, even though he had been friends since childhood with both Mahaad and his apprentice, Mana, had never claimed to understand all the intricacies of Magic so as far as he knew, there might be some spell able to help in this situation.

The older Sorcerer paused to think for a moment, before rather reluctantly answering "Well, I could always try, my King, but without being able to explain what is happening to him, the boy's own magic might very well attempt to fight my own" Mahaad didn't need to explain further for the Pharaoh to understand that, with most of his magic sealed away, Mahaad's powers alone might not be enough to fight through the boy's own complete magic.

One of Mahaad's toughest decisions in life had been to seal most of his magic away, wary of what that amount of power combined with the magic of his Millennium Ring could do. It had not been easy for him, because he had essentially separated a part of himself from the rest and the Pharaoh had always felt responsible for the pain his friend had to endure since, if it weren't for the duty the Magician had towards him, he would be free to practice his magic.

Atem took another moment to think of a possible way around this. They could try to explain to the younger sorcerer about what they were trying to do, but that would be hard to do with nothing but signs and gestures. The other option was that they could try to overpower his magic, but if Mahaad didn't think he could then it was probable that he indeed could not…of course, they could also try to give Mahaad a hand. "What if we were to focus on using the power of our Items in holding his magic back while you attempt your spell, would that be enough?"

Mahaad didn't answer immediately but turned to look at the foreign wizard, as if trying to predict the outcome of the Pharaoh's plan, the boy merely stared back confusedly and a bit nervously. On one hand, the young man would probably panic and try to escape if he found his magic bound if only momentarily and it was never a good idea to have a panicked magician around. On the other hand, teaching the boy the old fashioned way would take at least months and even Mahaad's patience wasn't great enough to wait for so long for some answers. No, he decided, the risk was worth it this time.

"It should work, my Pharaoh, but we shall have to make sure he is unable to move his body as well, or he might attempt to escape and break my concentration"

The Pharaoh only nodded and signaled for his Court to get ready. Mahaad turned back to the boy, who was by now more nervous than ever, and tried to offer a comforting smile in order to calm him down. It worked, though only marginally. And suddenly, all at once, the power of the Millennium Items was focused on the young man. He immediately stiffened and attempted to push back with his own magic, but it was nowhere near enough as one Item alone should have been enough to overcome him. Should being the keyword. Mahaad wasted a couple of second in noticing a golden glow coming from the boy's forehead but it was mostly hidden by the hood that had somehow remained on through all this, and also the fact that the others had started by using only the smallest bit of power from the Items (clearly trying to keep from frying the boy or something equally horrendous) but had eventually needed to increase this as the foreigner was somehow able to fight back.

The Egyptian magician shook his head to clear these rather distracting thoughts away and concentrated on his spell. Using his magic for something like this was not at all easy, and required rather delicate work if he didn't want to cause the boy pain or damage so he needed all the concentration he could muster. Swiftly, but still with care, his magic reached out and touched the other, clashing only momentarily with his own magic before it was distracted again by the Millennium Items. Mahaad focused on his language, the sounds and meanings of the spoken word, the looks and meanings of the written one. It was rather hard to plant something as vast as a whole language on someone's mind, mainly because the mind fought to overcome this 'intruder', strangely enough, the boy's mind seemed more open than usual, more easy to plant thoughts and knowledge in. Mahaad was intrigued by this, but was much too relieved by the fact that it made his job easier to look too much into it. Finally, after what could have been hours for all Mahaad knew, he felt the knowledge settle in, and the boy's mind accept it. The Magician stopped the flow of his magic and soon after the others cancelled their hold on the boy.

Mahaad hadn't been able to see the boy until now, as all of his senses had been turned off except for his magic and so he had not been able to noticing anything that went on in the physical world. The younger magician was on his knees, panting with exhaustion as though he had just ran for hours, his gaze firmly locked with the floor. In one quick move, he looked up, his emerald eyes were twin green fires, threatening to burn them all in their heated anger and the lack of the hood, which had finally fallen off during the magical commotion, allowed all present to clearly see the golden symbol imprinted and glowing on the youth's forehead. The Symbol of Ra.

"What the hell did you just do to me?"

Such were the first understandable words their guest ever uttered, and they were not all that comforting to Mahaad.

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Harry's mind was a jumble of thoughts, ideas and worries. In fact, there was so much noise in his head that he could barely hear himself think as he travelled through the massive halls of the palace, following after his so far favorite Egyptian (and considering he had just met two and one of them had tried to bash him in the head, it wasn't much to brag about). The man would speak to him softly every once in a while and Harry could almost pretend that he was welcome here and merely being given a tour of the place, and even though he could not understand one word being said, it was rather comforting.

He barely had time to compose himself a bit before the party of three was already standing behind some grand doors, decorated with beautiful gold engravings. It didn't take a Hermione to know that whatever (or whoever) was behind these doors, was important. The other wizard gave him a nod and smile of encouragement and Harry drew in all of his famed Gryffindor courage before entering.

It was a throne room, or rather, throne hall as the word 'room' was a little small for this place. What Harry first noticed about the room (other than its size) were the occupants. There were five men and one woman there. One was older, with gray hair and kind but intelligent looking purple eyes, who was standing right besides the throne. Another, also older man with gray hair, had a golden eye that kinda creeped Harry out even more than Moody's. There was also a tall fellow with longish black hair and rather big muscles standing there, looking a bit intimidating. Another of the men was bald and had some sort of tattoo on his forehead. The woman had black hair and a sharp look on her eyes that told him she was observant and didn't miss much. All but the purple-eyed man were wearing white clothes similar to those of the other wizard but, just as before, what mostly called for his attention were the golden Items they carried and, again just as before, he didn't like. The only other figure in the room stood apart rather easily. For one, he was sitting on the throne while the others stood around the room, his clothes were different and, if possible, wore even more golden trinkets than the rest of them and, as if that wasn't enough, the man's tri-colored hair and violet eyes would make him stick out like a sore thumb just about anywhere and, unsurprisingly, he also had one of those Golden Items. There was also some sort of air around him that gave Harry the idea that the guy could be standing in a crowd of beggars wearing Harry's own old hand-me-downs and still command respect and obedience.

He was just about finished with staring at all these new people when he noticed they were in turn staring at him, rather intensely so. Suddenly feeling like he was on display (and not at all comfortable about it) he tried hard to remain still and not squirm under their gazes. Years of being stared at had not helped him with getting used to the attention and had, in fact, made it all quite worse, so it was quite the effort to stay standing there and let them stare at him.

The other wizard was talking with who Harry had quite easily deduced was the King or Pharaoh or whatever, so Harry supposed he was explaining or something. They traded words back and forth with only the interruption of the woman once, before the wizard turned to look at Harry, his gaze measuring and calculating. Harry very much did not like that gaze, it made him nervous.

His suspicions turned out to be right not two minutes later when suddenly all of the Golden Trinket Wielders (as Harry had taken to calling them in his head) did that strange sort of magic he'd felt before with the Rod and aimed it at him. His reaction was quite obvious, he tried to fight back. _'I haven't survived a Dark Lord's attacks Ra knows how many times just to get killed by a bunch of living mummies!'_. He focused all of his might in fighting back, and could feel his magic flare inside of him before lashing out…only, it didn't work as planned. The strange magic of the golden items sort of drew his magic towards itself, grapping it in an unbreakable barrier and leaving him defenseless. Time to practice one of his best tricks…get lucky and get away. As soon as he understood that his magic was trapped, he attempted to run and get out of the room, perhaps find the exit and get away from the palace before he got beheaded or whatever, only to find that he couldn't. With his magic and body both bound, he was easy prey for any sort of attack, and one soon came.

Harry felt both surprised and betrayed when the attack came from the very same wizard who had saved him from the Rod Wielder just a little while ago, and the only person he sort of trusted in this bizarre time and place. He looked at the man with both pleading and betrayal, but he didn't seem to see him, or care. The other wizard's magic made contact with Harry and, as much as the younger one tried to repel it, his magic was just too busy and wrapped with the Golden Trinkets to be of any help. Harry could feel this foreign magic traveling through his body, unwelcome and invading and could only scream in his head in both anger and fear. He could also feel the same warmth as before and somehow knew that it was trying to protect him, but away was stopped by the magic of those blasted Golden Trinkets. Finally, he felt the magic settle in his mind, throat, ears and eyes when something sort of just _clicked_ inside of him. It was admittedly disturbing.

At last, it was over. The foreign magic left him (although he could still feel some remains of it) and the others let go of his own magic, which snapped back into place as soon as freed. He was tired, so very tired. He had not even noticed that he'd fallen to his knees until he opened his eyes and was greeted with the sight of the floor much too close. He stayed there for a little while, trying to catch the breath that had somehow gotten away from him and get his thoughts back in order, but it was impossible. He was angry…no, scratch that, he was downright livid.

His head snapped up, scorching green eyes locked with the grayish blue of the Egyptian wizard before he half-spoke, half-growled.

"What the hell did you just do to me?"

…In Egyptian, though he was much too busy glaring to notice that.

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**Author's Notes:** And that is chapter four! Man, either this fic is somehow too easy to write or my inspiration levels for it are going on astronomical 'cause it normally takes me at least three days to come up with new chapters, lol.

Anyways, a very heartfelt thank you for all the wonderful reviews! I love each and every one of them, guys, so keep 'em coming, lol! So, a lot of people are asking about Ra's intentions (and his rather bizarre sense of humor, XD) so I'll just explain: Yes, he sent Harry to help because he was impressed by his bravery and self-sacrificing nature, but if Harry is really to make any sort of change he can't just be handed everything easily…I guess you can say that Ra is sort of testing him. So yeah, he got out of the desert alive (even if thanks to Mahaad) and he has also overcome the language barrier (even if rather unwillingly), and if Ra had just dropped him off in front of the palace with an Egyptian translator included in his head…well, it would be much too easy for Harry and much too boring for me so that's the explanation (which basically means: Ra and I both like to see Harry suffer a bit)

For a bit of info and a picture of the symbol of Ra (about which I'll explain a bit more on the next chapter) go here (delete the spaces): http: /www . summum. us /about /symbol. shtml

Also, anyone who has suggestions for Harry's Ka, they're more than welcome! Or if you like one of my ideas and/or the reason for it, you can also vote for them!

Red Eyes Darkness Dragon: Because seriously, I could picture Harry having the soul of a Dragon. Why this Dragon in particular? Well, other than the fact that it's one of my favorites of my Dragon Deck, I think it would be good to express the hidden darkness inside Harry (SPOILER warning for DH following) that is Voldemort's little piece of icky soul.

Felgrand Dragon: Again, soul of a dragon, though a much more griffyndorish one XD

Magician of Black Chaos: Because he's cool and also because how can the words "Magician" and "Chaos" not scream "Harry Potter!" to you.

Chaos Command Magician: Same as up there ^^

Silent Magician (Lv 4 & up): I wasn't so sure about this one, but he is one of my favorites and I think the way he sort of 'grows' the more spells you use is really quite similar to a wizard student like Harry. Also I had the idea that yeah, you need Spell Counters in order to make him 'grow' but hey, no one said a Spell Counter could be from a wizard spell and not necessarily a spell card…to summarize, the Silent Magician grows as the summoner uses magic, right? Well, Harry has plenty of that, ne?

Okay, that's it for now. See ya all next chapter! :D


	5. SaRa

**Chapter Five**

Sa-Ra

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Atem was, according to many, a bit too young to hold the responsibilities that came with being King of Egypt, they believed he lacked the experience and needed more time before ascending to the throne. Of course, with his Father's sudden death, there really was nothing anyone could do to stop the Prince and sole Heir from claiming the throne. The new Pharaoh, although young, had already fought and bled for his country and his people, he had managed to harness the power of his Millennium Puzzle, proven himself a brilliant strategist and still a compassionate but firm ruler. All in all, Atem had done what many thought impossible for one so young. To others, it hadn't been all that great of a surprise, after all, the Pharaoh was a god on Earth, right? What else could be expected from a son of Ra? Atem had been supposedly chosen by the gods themselves to become King of Egypt, marked since birth, and people liked to believe their gods knew best. This blind devotion burdened Atem more than relieved him, as he had to be good enough not only to be Pharaoh, but to be the human god his people believed he was.

It was for this reason that he was currently torn between feeling awe or pity for the young man before him. He was surprised, terribly so, but that was a given considering the situation. First a foreign magician with no knowledge of their tongue wandering around the desert all alone, and now he turned out to be a foreign magician marked by Ra himself. Atem was quite confident anyone would have been surprised. Still, as the shock passed and his mind assimilated what was happening, he could not help but feel some sort of camaraderie with this young man. They had both been marked by the gods and that made them equals, did it not?

Atem had never had an equal before, it was simply forbidden, probably heresy in the eyes of some. He had friends, of course, but even they always addressed him by title (even if Mana often seemed to forget his title wasn't 'Price' anymore) and never by name, even they were careful to show respect, even they looked up to him in a way that made Atem feel they were ready to place their fates in his hands. It was a bit lonely, to be sincere.

To find that there was someone else who was burdened by this mark of the god Ra made him feel a little less special and a little less lonely…not to mention incredibly relieved. If Ra mad marked this young man then there had to be a reason and that reason was hopefully beneficial to Egypt. Considering the trouble they'd been having lately, it would be more than welcome.

Atem also remembered having prayed to the gods for help and guidance for several nights now and could not help but wonder if they had perhaps answered those prayers. It was a bit of a coincidence that a little after he'd asked for help, some Marked magician would appear right in his throne hall…too much of a coincidence. Still, the always present cold logic Atem had developed after having to plan battle strategies that would send some of his men to death, was telling him that surely there was not much this young man could do for them. Sure, he had magic, but then so did Mahaad (although, since most of it was sealed away, he wasn't sure it counted) and Mana, and you simply couldn't forget the magic of the Millennium Items, which was as far as he knew the strongest magic in the world. And this young sorcerer had not been able to defend himself against them, not even when he thought they were attacking him, so how could he help?

So caught up was he in his thoughts and hopes (which rose and fell at an almost dizzying speed) that he had failed to notice their guest's increasing anger and the energy buildup this was causing in his magic. Also, it seemed like he hadn't been the only one too surprised by the recent revelations to act quickly enough.

The boy had apparently lost his patience and his magic, probably still on edge from the sudden attack it had suffered, was quick to snap into action. As Mahaad had held his attention, he became the target of his anger. The Priest had barely a moment to try and shield before a wave of raw and uncontrolled magic slammed into him, sending him flying through the hall.

The rest of the Court seemed to snap out of their daze when one of their own was attacked and quickly surrounded the younger magician. This was not a good idea…the boy was already on edge and being cornered like this only made him feel more threatened which in turn made him more unpredictable and dangerous. It was clear to Atem, whose best friends were both magicians, that the boy's magic was out of control and reacting more to his feelings than to his commands. Again, this only made him more of a danger to himself and others. The Pharaoh knew he had to do something before things got even more out of hand, and he had to do it now.

"Stop!" His voice was deep and the tone commanding, leaving no room for doubts or arguments. The Priests still hesitated for a bit, before standing down. Shimon refused to leave the Pharaoh's side, though, ready to protect the King should something unexpected happened (again).

Atem left his throne and walked towards the young man, slowly, making sure the other could watch his every move and trying not to startle him with sudden movements. This is how the Pharaoh would have approached a scared wild animal, and right now the boy looked very much like one. He stopped only a few paces away from the young magician, who flinched a little but did not back down, and raised his hands to show the other that he had no weapon and was not going to attack him.

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Harry was used to being attacked, he was used to being thrown into unexpected situations with no apparent way out, he was used to the weird and unusual being part of his daily life. This doesn't mean that he liked. In fact, he'd just about had it with all of this. Too much had happened in too short a time and the young wizard was at his wit's end, it was only natural that he snapped. Unfortunately for the Egyptian wizard whose name he still didn't know, he was the first available target for his frustration and anger.

Harry didn't have his wand with him, which meant that he could not curse or jinx these people, but it didn't make him completely defenseless. As always, when he was distressed or truly angry, his magic came to the surface and snapped, attacking the other wizard with all it had and sending him to the other side of the hall in a rather ungraceful flight. Harry didn't really feel guilty that the guy would probably have a few nasty bruises for that. In fact, as far as Harry was concerned, the man was lucky not to have been blow up Aunt-Marge-style for that stunt with trapping his magic.

His sudden attack, however, had snapped the other people back into action, and Harry suddenly felt stupid for having forgotten about them as he focused on letting the other wizard know of his displeasure with people messing with his mind and his magic. They surrounded him, and Harry could feel panic starting to creep into him. This was a bit too similar to how the Death Eaters had attacked him and his friends before this whole mess began. He didn't like it, and he was praying that his accidental magic would also do something about them. He didn't like relying on accidental magic, since it was unpredictable and very much out of his control, but at the moment, it was all he had.

Before the magic had a chance to send this people flying in Angry Harry Airlines after their wizard friend, the man (teenager is more like it, since he didn't seem that much older than Harry himself) commanded them to stop. They did, surprisingly since they had just before looked ready to tear him into little pieces. Harry once again came to the conclusion that this was probably the Leader and so, likely all the more dangerous to him.

The other boy walked towards him, Harry felt his muscles tense and get ready for the 'fight or flight' reaction, slowly and making no sudden moves. The wizard's emerald green eyes didn't once leave the approaching figure, studying the way he moved, the speed, and trying to detect the slightest sign of deception or threat. Finally he stopped a little distance away, Harry flinched a bit but was able to fight down the urge to take a couple of steps back and get more distance between the two of them. He wasn't going to back away from this guy, Pharaoh or no.

"I apologize for what happened, but we really had few options left. You could not understand us and we needed to communicate. Mahaad merely used his magic to teach you our tongue" The young King's gaze strayed a bit to where the Egyptian wizard was only now getting up, before snapping back to Harry.

It was only now that the wizard boy realized that, indeed, he could understand what these people were saying now and it was likely they could understand him in turn, even though they had not answered his earlier question. This made him relax a little, as it explained what they had done to him and he finally understood that it hadn't been an attack (a proper one anyways, since he still considered it offensive to have his magic bound like that).

"I don't like people messing with my head" Harry was trying to hold on to his anger and indignation, since these feelings were the source of his accidental magic and without that, he would be defenseless again, not something he was eager for.

The Pharaoh nodded once in agreement "I understand and I am quite sure I would not have appreciated any more than you did if it had been me in your situation. However, as I have said before, we had little options left and you were growing more nervous by the minute, which would have made everything more difficult had we waited longer"

Okay, so who could argue with the guy's logic? Harry sighed in defeat and allowed his anger to fade away. His magic receded back to his body, wrapping itself around him as it usually did and no longer threatening. "Alright" Harry's tone of voice was agreeing, though still held a note of righteous indignation in it as he turned to look at the Egyptian wizard "just tell…Mahaad not to do that again, please" He paused for a bit, suddenly turning back to the other boy, his eyes widening just a bit "Err…your Highness" he completed, suddenly aware that he had been rather disrespectful towards the Ruler, the man who could probably decide on a whim whether Harry lived or died. _'Smart, Harry, really smart'_

The Pharaoh gave a small amused smile and shook his head. Harry momentarily entertained the thought that he could poke someone's eye out with the spiky locks before his attention snapped back to reality. "It is not really necessary for you to address me like that, brother" At the last word, he placed a hand on Harry's shoulder in what the young wizard could only interpret as some sort of personal greeting. Wow, he was being greeted by a Pharaoh, even for Harry that was a bit too much.

"Err…brother?" The young wizard could not help but feel a bit frustrated at his own confusion. Since this whole little adventure started, he had been in a constant state of confusion, and he was honestly starting to get tired of it. "What do you mean by that?" He needed some answers and this guy seemed so far willing to share with him.

The young Pharaoh looked surprised at his question, and took his hand off Harry's shoulder as he considered the young wizard before him. Finally, he spoke, his tone confused as well "Surely you know you have been Marked by Ra, as have I" He explained, gesturing first to Harry and then to himself, as though comparing them.

At this, Harry's confusion only grew. Of course he knew about Ra! The god had taken him out of the Dark Place, bargained for his devotion and one favor in exchange for Sirirus's freedom from that same place and then taken him to Ancient Egypt. It was kind of hard to forget something and someone like that. Still, Harry could not understand how the Pharaoh knew this, since they hadn't even been able to speak with him before just recently and even if they'd been able to, Harry had not yet mentioned the god.

"Well, yes" Harry's voice was low, a bit hesistant, as though he wasn't sure how to explain this or even if he wanted to explain at all "He sent me to you in your time of need" he said, repeating the god's words that had echoed in his head just before he was transported to this time and place. He only hoped those same words didn't get him accused of heresy or something and executed. "But then, how did you know about that?"

At this, the Pharaoh's expression lost its confusion and regained amusement (that slight twitch of his lips let Harry know the guy was trying not to smile) before simply pointing at Harry's forehead with a finger. Again, Ra's words echoed in his head…the god had said something about his forehead, but Harry had simply grown used to people making a fuss about that and didn't give it a second thought. Now, he really didn't think that his scar was in anyway special enough to let these people know of his involvement with a god, especially since the scar had been there long before he'd even known of Ra, and this Egyptians had no way of knowing anything about Voldemort.

He couldn't very well look at his own forehead to try and understand what the Pharaoh was talking about, so he settled for the next best thing. He raised a hand and peered into the smooth surface of one of the golden bracelets he now wore. It didn't take him very long to notice something unusual with his reflection (other than the fact that the reflection was in gold), there was a glowing symbol on his forehead. _'And this goes off the charts in my weirdometer'_

He turned back to the Pharaoh, more than a bit surprised (and slightly panicked by the glowing thing in the middle of his forehead), his eyes almost pleading for some explanation.

Apparently, his pleading look was pathetic enough that the Pharaoh took mercy on him and explained "It marks you as one of Ra's chosen. Sa-Ra. A son of Ra"

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**Author's Notes:** Chapter Five now up! This one is a bit shorter that #4, but I'm still happy with the outcome. Next chapter Harry finally gets to speak with the others (now that he can) and explore the Palace a bit, I think.

Thank you very much to all the reviewers! You guys keep stories like this alive and my enthusiasm going! :D

Also, on another note, I'd like to clear something up and I'm really, really sorry for not doing it before and also if I confused anyone. Harry has traveled back in time and is living in Ancient Egypt now, that places the timeline for Yu-Gi-Oh! before the series. This is not Memory World, this is the real deal, and there's no Yugi and Yami, and no Bakura from the future taking over the Thief King to change stuff, there is no amnesiac Atem. Because of this, things might differ from what we all saw during Memory World, because that was both a memory and an RPG, which I took to mean things didn't really happen that way (that, and I'm a firm believer that you can't change the past without causing a paradox or something, and instead end up 'changing' things you were meant to 'change', like in POA). Again, I apologize if I misled anyone by not stating this from the beginning. U.U

Now, for the voting on Harry's Ka! This is how it's currently going:

Magician of Black Chaos |

Chaos Commander Magician ||

Silent Magician |

Winged Dragon of Ra |

Kuriboh |

Horus the Black Flame Dragon |

Elemental Hero Flame Wingman |

Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast |


	6. Egyptian Magic

**Chapter Six**

Egyptian Magic

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After what seemed like an eternity of explanations, introductions, various exclamations of surprise and disbelief and an interrogation to rival the Spanish Inquisition (and a sincere apology from the wizard now known as Mahaad), Harry was finally allowed to leave the Hall and go back to his room and rest. Apparently, being marked by Ra was big business to these people as even when he was about to leave they kept glancing at his forehead though the symbol had long since disappeared (Harry had checked at least fifteen times to make sure that yes, his forehead had stopped to glow and yes, they were still staring at him). Fortunately, he'd grow used to such behavior long ago, even if he still despised it.

As he walked through marvelous hallways and grand rooms, he couldn't help but get lost in his thoughts. The Pharaoh had seemed relieved when he learned about Harry's Mark, and the young wizard could easily (almost unwillingly) remember the sun god's words. _'Their time of need'_ He repeated in his head. The words sounded ominous and Harry couldn't stop the light shiver coursing through his body. If something was giving the King of Egypt and his Court, people who were obviously powerful and skilled, then it had to be something big. 'As though defeating a Dark Lord wasn't big enough, now I get to deal with this too'. His thoughts were pessimistic to say the least, but he really couldn't bring himself to regret the choices that had brought him to the here and now and, if it was necessary, he would do it all over again. Sirius would be saved from that awful place (another shiver) and he had apparently gotten a god's favor…although technically, a god had gotten a favor out of him.

The boy wizard raised a hand to his face and then higher, ignoring the scar that had made him famous in his world and touching instead the place where the sun disc had recently appeared and disappeared. His lips curved up in a little smile. He had to admit that it felt very nice to know that beings such as gods existed, and that he currently had the backing of one. It made him feel safe, and not alone. It made everything seem…well, not as bad.

It was a nice feeling. A new feeling as well. Even if his god had a rather sadistic sense of humor. Harry couldn't suppress a light chuckle at this, remembering everything that had happened to him since his arrival to Ancient Egypt. He was still annoyed, very much so in fact, but it had been a long and exciting day and Harry simply didn't have enough energy to hold a grudge against an all-powerful higher being. Maybe tomorrow.

So lost was the young wizard in his thoughts that he had failed to notice how trouble lost he was physically. His emerald eyes blinked as he suddenly woke up from his musing, only now realizing that he was no where familiar. Panic started to rise to the surface before Harry ruthlessly smothered it down, he had felt enough panic today already and a little attack right now would not help things any. _'Take a deep breath, Harry, calm down and think. That's what Hermione would do in this situation, right?'_ Thinking of one of his best friends didn't help him focus at all, the sadness at being separated from them, and his constant worry over whether they had gotten out of that fight alright only served to distract him further. What if the Death Eaters had gotten them? What if they were hurt? What if Harry could never get back home and see them again? What if he died here and the only way his friends would ever see him again was as a mummy in one of those tombs Bill worked with? It was too much. Too many worries, too many insecurities. He did the only thing his mind could come up with when otherwise so occupied with downright spiraling thoughts. He ran.

He ran through the hallways and the rooms, through the maze-like corridors of the grand Palace, somehow trying to escape it all even though he logically knew that he couldn't, and that all he would get out of this was sore legs and an even worse mood, but he just didn't have the energy to focus right now.

Apparently, he also didn't have the focus to watch where he was going._ Thump_

He had collided with something, or maybe something had collided with him, he wasn't too sure, and he was sent to the ground in a rather undignified manner. He opened his eyes and was just about ready to curse at something when he noticed that he had collided with some_one_, and that someone had also landed on their bum. Staring back at him were another pair of green eyes, though they were darker than his own, narrowed in both annoyance and curiosity. Harry slowly got up and then offered his hand to the girl, trying to help her up. The green-eyed, tan-skinned, brown-haired girl scoffed and got up on her own, right before attacking him rather viciously with a finger.

"What do you think you're doing running around like an idiot and throwing innocent girls to the ground like that?" Harry had to admit that she was rather intimidating for such a small thing, although that may just have been because he was suffering the poking-of-doom and pissed-female-glare at the same time. Not good.

"Sorry. I…um, I sort of got lost and was trying to find my way back to my room" He explained, trying to lose control of his temper and annoy the girl further, after all, she might be his ticket back to the familiar parts of the Palace.

The infernal poking finally stopped, and the girl's glare vanished soon afterwards. Apparently, his apology was accepted.

"Room? You have a room here? I've never seen you before and I know_ everyone_ in the Palace so why…" she stopped suddenly, her face acquiring a look of utter panic "Oh, not again! Master Mahaad is going to kill me this time! Oh, he's sure to give me the disappointed look at the very least. I can't believe it!"

Harry blinked. Twice. The girl was working herself into hysterics and he wasn't sure how to stop her without somehow making it worse (he would never understand girls, he was sure of it). He opened his mouth and was about to ask what great crime she'd committed that someone would put her to death (hey, for all he knew, it was a crime for a female to touch a male or something, he'd heard about that kind of stuff happening in ancient cultures and considering where he was, it might be a possibility)when he realized exactly who she'd said would kill her. "Hey, you know Mahaad?" his mouth seemed to work without his brain's prior approval and blurted it out. Harry cringed, expecting to have indeed made it worse and be confronted with a wailing girl…it fortunately didn't happen.

The girl seemed to brighten and was all smiles and sunshine all of the sudden. It was slightly unnerving to the wizard. "Of course I know him! He's my teacher and he's teaching me to become an elite sorcerer!" the girl declared with a proud look and a bright smile afterwards.

Harry's magic, which had apparently been too distracted with his little panic-and-run episode earlier, soon reached out to test the air around the girl. Both her and Harry gave a light gasp when it connected with another magic. Harry still wasn't used to this reaction (he was pretty sure his magic had never done that before, but it might just be that the lack of a wand made it more unpredictable or something) and he had also not expected to find a witch, at least not so soon after his arrival. Needless to say, he was surprised, although it wasn't necessarily a bad surprise since at least now he knew he and Mahaad were not the only ones. "You're a _witch_!" his big, fast and uncontrollable mouth strikes again.

The girl crossed her arms and suddenly had a look Harry had only seen in Hermione once, when Ron insulted Hogwarts, a History…needless to say, neither of the boys had been stupid enough to make such a mistake again. "I am a sorcerer, and Master's Mahaad apprentice and you shouldn't call people names!" she scolded, her finger now pointing at him and threatening to start the poking again.

He raised his hands in surrender (and to shield himself from the poking as well) and tried to calm her before some disaster happened "I apologize again. _Witch_ is just a term for female sorcerer back in my homeland. I wasn't insulting you"

At the explanation and apology, the girl's anger seemed to evaporate quicker than water in the desert (and Harry now knew exactly how quick that could be) before she once again regained the fearful look. "Y-your homeland? I was right then! Oh, I'm sure to be in trouble for this"

Harry, pretty tired of the constant mood swings (he was sure they were gonna give him whiplash) stopped her before she could go farther in her ranting "Excuse me, but what exactly are you in trouble for?" he tried to keep his voice as even as possible and not let his occasionally vicious temper get out of hand, lest he make the girl's fear grow.

She turned to look at her feet as though they were the most amazing thing ever to be put on Earth. "For yelling at you. This is the third time I've gotten in trouble with a visiting noble or dignitary or something. Master Mahaad is not going to be happy about this" her voice was somehow both sad and sheepish, and she raised her head just enough to send him an apologizing and pleading look, begging him not to tell anyone that she'd yelled at him.

The young wizard offered her a friendly smile "Well, since I'm neither noble nor dignitary, and it really was my fault for not watching where I was going, how about we keep this between us. I mean, I really am sorry for knocking you down and all"

At this, the girl seemed to brighten once again before all of the sudden attacking him with a hug. Harry flinched, surprised at this and not used to getting hugs other than from Hermione and Mrs. Weasley, before awkwardly returning it. He had to smile at the girl's bright personality, she probably could light the Dark Place with it if she really wanted. She finally let go and offered a half-mumbled apology for having hugged him.

"So, did you come here to see Master Mahaad?" she said, after the slightly awkward moment had passed. Harry looked at her in confusion before answering with a question of his own "Why would you think that?"

He girl paused to think for a second before answering, not quite as sure of herself as before, but apparently not willing to admit defeat "Well, you're a Sorcerer and he's one too, so I just thought…" She didn't finish, as she really wasn't sure how to, but Harry got the gist of it.

"No. I'm here rather unexpectedly and the Pharaoh offered me a place to stay for the time being. Besides, I doubt you can even call me a Sorcerer, I'm not even fully trained yet" the last part he admitted reluctantly, still bitter over the loss of his wand and his inability to do proper magic without it.

The words that were depressing to him, however, seemed to somehow make the girl's day. Her eyes widened, and so did her smile (which Harry hadn't thought possible) before giving a joyful cry. Harry, whose experience with loud females was decidedly not good, backed a step or two, as if afraid he was going to be attacked or something.

"Oh, are you going to be training with us, then? That's going to be great! I'm always alone in the lessons and it gets boring to study all by yourself and Master Mahaad is sometimes too busy to even make it to the lessons and…" at the possibility of another rant, Harry was rather quick to interrupt "Err, I don't think I'll be training with you. Well, Mahaad didn't say anything at least and I'm not sure…" the boy drifted off and left the sentence incomplete as he watched the girl's expression fall to disappointment and cringed inwardly.

It was then that another voice interrupted and broke the silence between the two young magicians. "Well, I cannot see why not. Had I been informed you had not completed your Magical Training, I certainly would have offered my help" Mahaad's voice was heard from a shadowed doorway before the Magician stepped into the light and was seen by the younger pair. The man had a serene smile on his face as he approached "I see you have met my apprentice, Mana. Mana, this is Harry, a guest of the Pharaoh and, if he accepts, your new fellow apprentice" at this last declaration, Mana gave another squeal before once again hugging poor Harry.

The young wizard wasn't quite sure what to do. He didn't even think he would be able to really use his magic without his wand so what was the point on getting magic lessons? On the other hand, studying Ancient Egyptian spells like this was a unique opportunity and he was quite sure Hermione would never forgive him if he turned it down. Besides, he really didn't have anything better to do until he could figure out exactly what he was sent here to help with, and how he could help. "That…that would be nice" he accepted.

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Mahaad had been wandering around the Palace, looking for their apparently misplaced guest for several minutes already. He had to admit that it had been a bit inconsiderate of them to simply let the boy go off on his own when he had no knowledge of the Palace layout and was likely to get hopefully lost. Now that possibility had come true and they were all forced to look for him (some more grudgingly than others). The Magician was about to turn around and try another route when he heard the unmistakable voice of his apprentice yelling at someone. Feeling a headache coming, he turned in that direction and braced himself for another discussion with his wayward apprentice. It was likely that an unfortunate guard was her victim again, they tended to annoy her when they caught her in the middle of her escapades…fortunately, she was still too inexperienced to spell them too badly. A small blessing, but a blessing nonetheless.

To his great surprise, he found not a guard or servant being subjected to his apprentice (who had gone from angry ranting to hugging mode by now) but the very same young man he had been looking for. He stopped in a shadowed spot and decided to watch them for a minute, trying to decide whether it was a good thing they'd met or if perhaps the gods were testing his patience again. It was yet another surprise in a list of way too many for today when he learned that the boy was not a fully trained Sorcerer. With the way his magic acted and reacted, not to mention that he'd been sent by Ra himself to help them, Mahaad had expected him to be a Master Magician, if perhaps a bit inexperienced because of his age.

Mana's idea of having the boy study with them had merit, he'd admit that much (even if Mana was probably planning to use the distraction that having another apprentice would cause to escape from her lessons and go meet the Pharaoh or prank the guards), but would the boy be willing to? Mahaad was pretty sure that the boy still lightly resented him for the earlier treatment and spelling, and would perhaps be reluctant to have the man who had 'messed with his head' as a teacher. Still, it was worth a try, and Mahaad took the opportunity presented to him to make the offer.

"Well, I cannot see why not. Had I been informed you had not completed your Magical Training, I certainly would have offered my help" he stepped out of his little hiding place to let the two younger magicians see him, offering them both a smile "I see you have met my apprentice, Mana. Mana, this is Harry, a guest of the Pharaoh and, if he accepts, your new fellow apprentice" Mana seemed rather joyful at the last sentence and subjected the poor boy to yet another hug. Mahaad did his very best to keep his chuckles to himself.

He turned to Harry and could see the warring thoughts going on in the younger man's head. He was undecided. Mahaad was tempted to speak again and try to convince him, but in the end decided that the decision should be entirely up to the boy. This proved to be the correct course of action when the green-eyed sorcerer accepted.

That…that would be nice"

And so, Mahaad gained another apprentice and, if he had his way, Egypt would soon gain another great Sorcerer.

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**Author's Notes:** Chapter Six! And we hit the 100 reviews mark! Yayness! Thanks a bunch for that, everyone, I really, really appreciate each and every one of your comments, ideas, votes and everything else. Keep it coming! ^_^

I'm really, really sorry about not updating yesterday, but there's a freaking hurricane going on here and, unsurprisingly, power's been going on and off regularly (it unfortunately stays off more than on, but again, that's not surprising). The worst has apparently passed though, and my house is undamaged, my family unharmed and all in all, I got off lightly, so it's no longer an excuse to put off my updates.

Anyways, Harry finally seems to start becoming part of Egyptian Society and this also means we'll see more of Mana, which is always a good thing…I love that girl's enthusiasm. I know the story's going slowly, but I really don't want to rush everything and have the fic be a short little piece with a rushed plot and sudden ending, so I'm giving time for the plot to thicken and the characters to develop…or at least I hope so.

Now, for the voting on Harry's Ka! This is how it's currently going:

Magician of Black Chaos ||||||||||

Chaos Commander Magician |||||||

Silent Magician |||||

Winged Dragon of Ra ||||||

Kuriboh |

Horus the Black Flame Dragon |||

Elemental Hero Flame Wingman |

Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast |

Arcanite Magician ||

I have to admit I'm also leaning towards a Magician 'cause it would really make sense, you know. I mean, Mahaad and Mana both have magic and they both have magicians, so that's gotta mean something.


	7. Interlude: The Thief King

**Chapter Seven**

Interlude: The Thief King

**Warning** Bakura's mind is a twisted, twisted place so there might be a few mentions of bloody gory details many would rather not read, thread carefully.

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Vengeance. It is usually described as such an ugly, needless and outright wrong thing…by weak fools with pathetic morals. Vengeance was all he had left now (well, if one didn't count the _few_ little trinkets he had stolen recently, but nevermind that), it was the only thing that kept him going, the fuel that had made him endure for so many years. It was also so close now that he could already taste it.

For most of his life, the man now known as the Thief King had only known pain and grief. He had seen true horrors in this world and had met the true dark side of human nature when he was still a young child. Needless to say, he had grown up quite a bit twisted. But he had survived. The little orphaned boy had endured, lived and grown into a certainly deadly and strong individual, with skills that made him infamous all though Egypt. He wouldn't have it any other way.

It wasn't until recently, however, that his long-awaited dream of revenge had started to come true. So long he had waited to repay the _mighty _Pharaoh for what he had done to his people, his family and his life. Of course, the man who had ordered such atrocities committed was quite dead now (and wasn't that a let-downer? He had _so_ wanted to send the man to the afterlife himself), but his heir remained to extract vengeance upon. And the Thief King was sure the son was no different from the father.

The white-haired man was currently resting in his hide-out, which had also been his home once, a long time ago, debating over how to proceed with his plans. A dirty, tanned hand rose to brush fingers against the cool metal surface of the golden diadhank now attached to one of his arms. Cold grey eyes inspected the golden instrument which allowed him to summon a mighty beast of Shadows. Diabound had proved its power in their last meeting with the Pharaoh and his Court, but the Thief King was sure that even such a powerful monster would not be able to stand against the three divine beasts that the Pharaoh controlled…not yet, at least. What made his creature so powerful was not its power alone, but that which it stole from those it defeated (the thief had been forced to laugh/cackle in appreciation to the similarity between himself and his monster). If he could defeat other powerful summons, then Diabound would gain enough strength to battle even the god beats.

And that would only be the beginning.

He wasn't just going to kill the Pharaoh and be done with it. Oh, no, his revenge would be much more complex than that. He had waited much too long for it and would not be satisfied with a quick and merciful end. No, the Pharaoh was going to suffer. He was going to be forced to watch as his kingdom crumbled to ashes and his people fell, robbed of their lives, all around him, while he was powerless to stop it. The great god incarnate was going to lose everyone close to him, watch as Akefia* himself sent them to Shadows and tombs without being able to prevent it. And once the man was broken and bleeding and begging every god he knew of for death, then and only then would Bakura plunge a dagger into his heart and leave him for dead, bleeding out amongst the smoking ashes of what had once been his life. An eye for an eye and all that.

However, to do all that, he would have to get closer, and to get closer he would have to be very, very smart. He couldn't just perform another frontal attack now, not when they were expecting him. The Thief King was pretty sure that blasted bunch of Priests had taken all the necessary measures to protect their precious little Pharaoh and would have set traps and other obstacles for him at the Palace. No matter, he didn't need to go to the palace in order to destroy them, he was more skilled than that. He would have to lure them out, one by one and pick them off when they were at their weakest…alone.

Already the Thief King's decidedly twisted mind was coming up with plans, ideas and traps that he could implement in order to get rid of the last barrier between himself and the Pharaoh. With the Priests gone, the young King would be practically defenseless and his country ripe for the picking. That was what Bakura wanted, and so that was what he would get.

After all, it would take all the skills of a King of Thieves in order to steal the Court away from his Pharaoh. But first things first, he had to investigate and find out which of the Priests' deaths' would be the most devastating to the Pharaoh.

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Miles away from the haunted village of Kul Elna, a young wizard was gazing out the window and into the clear starry night. It was a truly beautiful sight, with no artificial lights to dampen the brilliance of the sky. It was, however, completely ruined by the decidedly ominous feeling the young man was getting out of it. There was something out there, something waiting and lurking in the darkness, bidding its time before it struck. A pale hand rose to gently brush the scar that was now fading but still visible. He almost wished the blasted thing still worked as a trouble radar, at least then he would be sure that something was coming instead of having to live with these strange feeling of impending doom, but being unable to really know, or to do anything about it.

Well, maybe his scar wasn't hurting, but he was still pretty sure that something was coming. It wasn't the good sort of something either.

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*This is going to be used as Bakura's name in Ancient Egypt, because of popular vote ^_^ (See Author's Notes on Chapter 23 and 24 for the voting)

**Author's Notes:** Alright! Finally I could post this!

Again, I apologize for the very slow update but like I said before, power's been wacky lately(and it doesn't help when the lines fall and the company is swamped with work and complains from all over the place), but it's thankfully back to normal now and so should my posting.

This was sadly a very short chapter, but I wanted to get into the enemy's head a bit and explore his motives and feelings before moving on to his actions. He's pretty messed up and I'm just sad that I have a bit of difficulty writing him and might not do the character justice so forgive me if I screw up a bit, but he's quite the complex character and I admit it's been a long time since I watched the Memory World arc (mayhaps I should go look at it now that I'm writing this, lol)

I also want to apologize to anyone I might have confused with the whole Ka thing (and other stuff as well) and want to thank **smoochynose** for asking for an explanation…it probably wouldn't have occurred to me otherwise. To solve this problem I'm not posting a sort of glossary along with my author notes now and if there's anything in one chapter that you don't understand or get, say so and I'll place the definition/explanation on the next chapter's glossary.

For now it's just **Ka** and **Ba**:

Normally, Ka and Ba are two of the seven parts that made up the soul according to the ancient Egyptians. In Yu-Gi-Oh! they're explained a bit differently. In the anime and manga, if a person's Ka was removed from their body (such as what happened to Kisara), then the person would die. The Chosen Priests powered up their Ka by using their Ba as a sort of battery. If you run out of Ba, which is sort of like spiritual energy, then you're likely to die. The Ka is sort of like a spirit beast guardian, they're part of your soul expressed physically (or sort of, as some look a bit transparent) that take the shape of a Duel Monster (please note that Duel monsters were based on these creatures, not the other way around…I don't think your soul much cares about your favorite card). Also, as I understand it, you don't really need a diadhank to summon your Ka, as it is already part of you and not sealed in a stone tabled (this happened to both Kisara and Mana).

Hope that helped a bit! ^-^

Now, for the voting on Harry's Ka! This is how it's currently going:

Magician of Black Chaos |||||||||||||||||||

Chaos Commander Magician ||||||||

Silent Magician ||||||

Winged Dragon of Ra ||||||||

Kuriboh |

Horus the Black Flame Dragon ||||

Elemental Hero Flame Wingman |

Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast |

Arcanite Magician || |

Divine Dragon Ragnarok |

Please note that voting shall be closing tomorrow so if you haven't voted yet, hurry up before you miss your chance ^^


	8. Atem

**Chapter Eight**

Atem

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A new day had come upon the lands of mighty Egypt, waking up the city and its inhabitants to get ready for whatever might come. Even at this early hour, the Palace was already busting with activity and motion, servants going from here to there, preparing breakfast and whatnot, priests, nobles and citizens all reciting a prayer for the new day, court members already making plans and coming up with strategies…and a young wizard once again trying to find his way through the maze-like place.

Harry was both excited and nervous about what this day would bring. For today was the day his magic lessons with his new teacher (and let's not forget his new fellow student) would begin. He had no idea how exactly Egyptian sorcery worked, for he had never before been particularly interested in History of Magic or the Ancient Arts. This of course, only made him regret not having listened to Hermione's ever constant advice of paying attention or reading outside of class; it also made him even more aware of how much he depended on his friends before, for he was sure either Hermione (with her 'light reading' that seemed to cover just about everything and anything that could be considered involved in magic) or Ron (who truly seemed to listen to his eldest, curse-breaking, Egyptian magic expert brother) would have a much clearer idea of what he was up for. Not that he missed them merely because he could make use of their knowledge, but because he honestly felt a bit lost without them, without the constant support they offered, or their friendship…he even missed the constant bickering between the two of them that had at one time threatened to drive him mad.

Shaking his head, making his messy black locks fly everywhere, the poor young wizard tried to clear his thoughts. It would probably be best if he had his full attention and focus on the lessons he was about to receive. Magic could be a bit fickle at times and it was best to pay attention, lest you end with multi-colored hair, extra limbs (or less than you should have) or something equally undesirable. Now, if only he could find his way to Mahaad's rooms.

He had managed to follow the directions given to him yesterday up to this point, where the hallway led to three different ways, the problem was that he couldn't remember if he was supposed to go left, right, or straight ahead and, considering his experience yesterday, he didn't want to risk going the wrong way and ending up helplessly lost (again)…this place was almost worst than Hogwarts, and considering that the castle had changing staircases and the likes, that was saying something.

Finally tired of waiting for some answer to magically present itself to him, he decided he might as well try something. He was going to train his magic, right? So what better way to make it to his magic lessons than to use his magic? He knew it had made contact with both Mahaad's and Mana's own and so, theoretically, it should be able to recognize their signatures. Problem was, Harry didn't consciously use his magic to detect others, it pretty much did it on its own and only at certain distance or when he was feeling threatened; obviously, he was still too far away from the other two for this to work as it usually did, so he would have to try and change things. Maybe if he could focus enough he would be able to increase the distance his magic worked on, and use it as a sort of radar to locate his new teacher. This was, of course, all theory and would have to be put to the test.

He closed his eyes and tried to focus. It wasn't easy, but he was sure he was managing. Now, as his magic had always worked on part with his emotions, he was sure that this was the key to make it work, and since this particular effect worked best when he felt threatened, he only had to replicate that feeling. He tried to recall all the times he'd been in danger and with no apparent way out…it wasn't exactly hard, since he had way too many memories of events that fit that criteria. He remembered being trapped in the mirror room with Quirrell, standing before the memory of Tom Riddle as it called the deadly Basilisk and he had nothing to protect himself with, the time he and Sirius had almost been Kissed by the dementors, watching helplessly as Cedric was killed and he was left all alone against the growing darkness, being in the Empty Darkness and contemplating Death. Needless to say, it was more than enough…a bit too much, in fact. His magic was almost like static in the air by now, trying to fight a foe that wasn't there and Harry could feel his control over it slip away. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea.

To make an already bad situation worse, he was no longer alone. The King of Egypt was walking towards him, a curious expression on his face and apparently oblivious of how dangerous approaching him was. Harry of course, was much too busy with his magic to notice the Pharaoh's presence, which again, only made things worse.

"What are you doing?"

The question was completely harmless, the tone curious and not at all threatening or frightening, but this made no difference at all. Harry was caught partially on the memories he had willingly recalled and partially on the magic that was trying to protect him from something inexistent and so, caught unaware by the sound of the other's voice, could do nothing as his magic and instincts reacted, sending the power that he had tried to use in finding someone towards the Pharaoh and as the magic truly believed that its Master was in danger, its purpose was not to search, but to attack. Harry had only a second to wonder what the punishment for blasting the King of Egypt was before the magic made its way towards said King…

…and was repelled by a golden shield.

The wizard watched, partially in awe but mostly in relief, as the shield neutralized the blast of uncontrolled magic and then just vanished harmlessly. He really hadn't been expecting that, especially as the magic he was used to required incantations and wand movements to work and the Pharaoh had not moved or uttered a word.

Unfortunately, now that the unexpected attack had failed, Harry could only try to explain what had happened and hope he wasn't put to death (really, he had been wondering this way too many times in the last two days, this constant worry was sure to take a few years off his life expectancy), at the very least, he was expecting the Pharaoh to yell at him. What he wasn't expecting is exactly what happened, the attacked King tilted his head to one side just slightly and regarded him with calm curiosity.

"Now I see you are indeed in need of Mahaad's lessons, if you can't control your own magic"

This was said in a calm tone of voice, neither mocking nor approving, but Harry could still not help the slight indignation that came to him at those words. It wasn't his fault that his magic reacted like that, it really wasn't. He frowned and locked gazes with the Pharaoh, for a moment forgetting that he was practically challenging the King of Egypt.

"I _can_ control it"

The declaration was bold and, at the moment, it was also untrue. To the Pharaoh it was apparently amusing as well, judging by the rise of one eyebrow and the way one corner of his lips was slightly twitching in suppression of a grin. "Oh?" And just in case his face didn't convey said amusement, his voice certainly did the job.

Harry finally looked away, breaking the staring contest he'd started when he felt his skin flush (which made him mentally curse his pale complexion, as it was sure to make the pink tint on his cheeks all the more noticeable).

"Well, I could…if I had my wand*" He finally stated, not willing to admit total defeat.

This only seemed to make the Pharaoh's curiosity grow and, strangely enough, send a quick glance at the golden pendant resting on his chest. "Your wand?"

Knowing that he was being asked for a more detailed explanation, Harry sighed and gave up, he might as well tell the guy about it, since he probably would have to tell Mahaad anyways and the Priest was not likely to keep anything from his Pharaoh "It helps me sort of…focus, I guess, my magic and cast spells. Without it, my magic seems to rely on my emotions instead" He admitted, before once again turning to the King "I'm a rather good sorcerer when I have it, though" He couldn't help but defend himself and his wounded pride.

The Pharaoh made a vague sound of understanding, his gaze straying away from Harry and back to his pendant, which he was now holding in both hands. His face was mostly blank, but there was some emotion in his eyes that Harry didn't understand, and wasn't sure he wanted to.

"Maybe you rely so much on this…wand, that your magic doesn't know what else to do but follow your emotions in order to obey you"

Harry had to admit, although rather grudgingly, that this made sense. Wizards had relied on wands for so long and wandless magic was thought to be extremely hard and almost impossible…yet, he now knew from first-hand experience that it had not always been this way. This didn't necessarily make him feel better, since it meant he was probably much too used to the modern way to learn to use Mahaad's methods…and if he didn't learn that, then he was stuck with relying on uncontrollable magic until he could get back to his own time…if he ever got back, that is. What help could he possibly offer these people if he couldn't even control his own magic, his only weapon? He was useless here, probably more of a liability than anything else.

The depressing thoughts were, fortunately, interrupted when the Pharaoh placed a hand on his shoulder and, pendant now apparently forgotten, forced him to meet the other's stare with the other. "I apologize for that, I did not mean to belittle your ways and practices, or make you feel inadequate. If you think using this wand is for the best, then continue doing so, you know your own magic much better than I"

The words were meant to be comforting and they worked a little, but also helped to remind Harry that, as his wand was back home, he had no other choice than to learn to use his magic without it, and that was if he was even able to do so. He informed the Pharaoh of this.

"It's not like I really have a choice, your Highness, my wand is lost and I must learn to use my magic without it, or I'm helpless. I don't even know if I can learn after so many years of doing magic my way"

The Pharaoh offered a smile, dropping his hands back to his sides, before proceeding. "I have the greatest confidence in Mahaad and his teachings, if anyone can help you learn, then it is him. I also have confidence in you, for why would you have been Chosen if you could learn to wield your own power. I know you will learn and improve, if only you work hard at it"

At this, Harry really couldn't help but return the smile. So, maybe he wasn't as alone as he's thinking earlier. If a Pharaoh could believe in him then what right did Harry have to doubt himself? And just like that, his determination came back, the same that had made him pull through countless times before, that had made him learn the Patronus Charm when he was thirteen, fight a giant snake in order to save a little girl, and win a Tournament he hadn't even wanted to compete in. If he could do all that, then he could do this. He nodded. He could, and he would do it.

Apparently satisfied, the Pharaoh returned the nod encouragingly.

"By the way, did I not ask you not to call me that before? Or have you forgotten already?"

The tone was light and, dare he say it, teasing. The serious talk was apparently over now. Harry was slightly caught off guard by this and it took him a moment or two to recall that indeed, the Pharaoh had insisted that Harry not call him that since they were apparently equals. The young wizard didn't entirely understand this, but then again, he was still new to all of this and the other teenager had been raised in these customs, so he was sure to know more and Harry just went along with it.

"Errr…well, what do you want me to call you, then?" He could also remember the Pharaoh calling him 'brother' yesterday and wondered if this was the proper way to address him. He didn't really want to, it felt kinda wrong for some reason, but would if asked to.

This time it was the Pharaoh who was caught off guard by the question, before he apparently realized something and his expression turned just slightly sheepish. "I just remembered that I forgot to tell you my name. I am sorry, it's just that I have never had to introduce myself before. My name is Atem, and I'd be glad if you would call me that"

Wow, so now he was on first-name basis with a Pharaoh. _'Only me'_. He had to fight the urge to shake his head in resignation at the odd twists that plagued his life.

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Atem was distracted this morning. In fact, he was so distracted that he had not been able to work at all since he'd woken up about an hour ago. One might think that he was used by now to the stress and burdens of being King but to be truthful, it wasn't really something you could get used to, at least not without risk of growing careless and missing something important and this particular Pharaoh was not willing to take that risk. His mind was a jumble of thoughts, but most were centered on the enemy that had appeared just recently, and the foreign sorcerer who Atem believed had been sent to help them with said enemy. He was sure that the so-called Thief King could not possibly be working alone, not with the level of chaos and mayhem he'd been causing all through Egypt (including robbed and half-destroyed villages and murdered villagers), it was humanly impossible. So, as though dealing with a thieving maniac wasn't enough, there were probably accomplices and followers to handle as well…it was enough to give him a headache. Atem did not tolerate threats to his kingdom and his people and wanted to deal with Bakura as swiftly as possible in order to prevent any more bloodshed. However, he was also not arrogant enough to believe that just because the man didn't have an army at his disposal he wasn't dangerous, especially since the Thief had already proved how skilled and devastating he could be. No, he wasn't going to rush and get more of his men killed with arrogance; he would have to tread carefully.

With all these worries in his head, it wasn't surprising that he had been unable to concentrate on his work and had instead decided to take a walk in hopes that it would clear his mind a little. It was as he walked through the comfortingly familiar hallways of the Palace that he came upon the other person occupying his thoughts recently…it wasn't everyday that a god sent you someone to help, after all, and the young sorcerer was interesting to say the least.

The first thing the young Pharaoh noticed about his newest guest was the high concentration of magic around him. _'Is he performing a spell?'_ Atem had to admit he was intrigued and interested in learning more about this young man's magic since it seemed different from any he had seen before…more wild, perhaps.

"What are you doing?"

He really couldn't help himself and just had to ask, this didn't look like any spell he'd seen before and he could almost see the magic slipping away from Harry's control, that could be dangerous if the young sorcerer wasn't careful.

His suspicious turned out to be correct when the magic lashed out and attacked him, a wave of it separated itself from Harry and tried to blast the Pharaoh. 'Tried' being the keyword here. As soon as he'd felt the magic's violent reaction, Atem had readying himself for the attack, activating the magic of his Millennium Puzzle and making it form a shield to protect him. Golden light erupted in front of his eyes, the kind of light he had come to associate with the Items. The shield served its purpose, repelling the raw magic of the attack before it faded away into nothing.

The sorcerer responsible for the attack looked at him with a strange mix of awe and what seemed to be relief. Obviously he was glad that his magic had not harmed anyone this time. Atem, on the other hand, couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed that the young man sent to help them couldn't seem to control his own magic. Oh, he knew that the other boy was still learning since Mahaad had informed him of the lessons he would be giving the younger magician, but he had still expected a bit more.

"Now I see you are indeed in need of Mahaad's lessons, if you can't control your own magic"

He refused to let his disappointment show, however, and spoke in a calm and collected manner, not wishing to anger the other. Not that it seemed to work, anyways

"I _can_ control it"

At the boldness of both his statement and his challenging stare, Atem couldn't fight down his amusement. It had been much to long since he'd last been challenged like this, probably not since he'd become Pharaoh. He raised a questioning eyebrow

"Oh?"

His valiant attempt at fighting down his smile only got harder as the boy blushed and looked away, obviously embarrassed…whether the embarrassment was because his lack of control or the fact that the Pharaoh had almost silently called him on his lie about it, it remained unclear.

"Well, I could…if I had my _wand_"

The boy didn't appear ready to admit defeat, not even to a Pharaoh and once again Atem found this both refreshing and amusing. He was fortunately distracted away from these feelings by his curiosity of the foreign word. At least he had managed not to smile so far, since the young magician's pride seemed wounded enough already.

"Your wand?"

Once it was explained what a 'wand' was and what it was used for, Atem almost unconsciously cradled his Puzzle in his hands. It sounded as though Harry used his wand the same way Atem used his Puzzle and this made him wonder if the other's focus was as dangerous as his own. He was not naïve enough to believe that he controlled the Puzzle's power, or that anyone could truly control any of the Items, and he was almost frighteningly sure that sooner or later someone would pay the price that undoubtedly came with this much power. He truly hoped Harry's wand wasn't like this, for the sorcerer's own sake.

"Maybe you rely so much on this…wand, that your magic doesn't know what else to do but follow your emotions in order to obey you"

_'That's it, perhaps I can convince him to stop using this artifact before it's too late'_

If he had known what kind of reaction his words would cause, he would have held his tongue. Atem internally cringed at the expression of helplessness and defeat on the young man's face. He recalled what it felt like when he was younger, a prince learning how to be Pharaoh, and struggled with some lesson or task. That feeling of failure, of not being good enough to be Prince, it had been very unpleasant. He didn't want the magician to feel like this and so did what he remembered his Father doing whenever he was sinking in this feeling. He offered comfort and advice. One of his hands was now on Harry's shoulder, squeezing just slightly in a display of camaraderie, and the other was busy lifting the magician's chin in order to force him to meet gazes once more. He wanted Harry to see the honesty in his eyes for what he had to say.

"I apologize for that, I did not mean to belittle your ways and practices, or make you feel inadequate. If you think using this wand is for the best, then continue doing so, you know your own magic much better than I"

His words, however, didn't seem to work as they were supposed to, and he soon found out why.

"It's not like I really have a choice, your Highness, my wand is lost and I must learn to use my magic without it, or I'm helpless. I don't even know if I can learn after so many years of doing magic my way"

Ah, so that was why he had been attempting that spell without the aid of his focus, he should have known. Still, the Pharaoh was determined not to let the sorcerer sink into depression and offered him a smile.

"I have the greatest confidence in Mahaad and his teachings, if anyone can help you learn, then it is him. I also have confidence in you, for why would you have been Chosen if you could learn to wield your own power. I know you will learn and improve, if only you work hard at it"

The last part was something he had heard his father say time and time again, whenever Atem was having difficulties with something. It had worked on him, and it apparently worked on Harry as well. Atem could see steely determination fill his eyes and give him a strength that some men twice his age didn't have. At this, he felt any lingering disappointment fade away into nothing, sure that it was this inner strength that had gotten the sorcerer Chosen by Ra and that it would be used to protect his country and his people.

Wanting to distract the other a bit, since he looked like he was about to storm away in a quest to discover lost and powerful magic and learn it all, he decided to correct him in his use of 'Highness'. Atem didn't really want Harry to call him this, or by any of his titles, since it was tiring to be called so continuously and, if anyone would be permitted to make use of his name, if would surely be someone who was Marked as well.

"By the way, did I not ask you not to call me that before? Or have you forgotten already?"

He was rather amused by the surprised look on the other's face, apparently being caught off guard and his thoughts knocked away from that almost stubborn determination he had seen before.

"Errr…well, what do you want me to call you, then?" The sorcerer didn't sound as though he was too sure of what to make of his request. At his question, it was Atem's turn to be confused…well, what else would he want to be called but by his own name? It was then that he realized that he had never actually given his name to the other boy. Yesterday, after Harry calmed down and Mahaad recovered from the sudden attack, they had all introduced themselves, but Atem had never one used his name and, obviously, nor did any of the others. It was strange, having to introduce himself for the first time in his life, since everyone had always known who he was before (even when he didn't want them to)

"I just remembered that I forgot to tell you my name. I am sorry, it's just that I have never had to introduce myself before. My name is Atem, and I'd be glad if you would call me that"

It would be nice, he decided, to have someone call him by his name.

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*I just want to note that some words that Harry uses simply don't exist in the Egyptian language and are therefore spoken in English by him (sort of like how in the Japanese version of the YGO series some words are also English). I forgot to mark this difference in Chapter 5, when he calls Mana a 'witch' and she thinks he's insulting her. This is to explain in case Harry ever feels like talking about the future and its technology…since I very much doubt Ancient Egyptians spoke of airplanes or computers or (Arthur Weasley moment here) plugs…

**Author's Notes:** And that's Chapter Eight! And we finally see Harry use some more of his Magic. Next chapter will cover his lessons with Mahaad so stay tuned!

A big thank you to **Reading4soul** for pointing out that error in last chapter. I'm gonna go fix that now *blushes and scurries away muttering about revision reading* Ah, and as for your question about summoning the Ka with the Items in lack of a diadhank **spoiler alert here for episode 219 of YGO** Mana summoned her Dark Magician Girl without either of them, and so did Kisara before her, so I'm guessing it's possible when you really, really need it.

**Magician Girl Mirani:** Thank you very much for your ideas! I really loved hearing about them and they really are very interesting, but the voting has been going on for several days and it seems like the fair way to decide the Ka (still, would you mind if I used your monster in the future of this fic, an idea is starting to form with it in). As for the name and the animagus issues well, I don't think I'll really spoil it for anyone so as long as I don't reveal what they'll be so I'm answering that yes, that will most certainly be happening in this story ^_^

Now, for the voting on Harry's Ka! This is how it ended:

Magician of Black Chaos |||||||||||||||||||

Chaos Commander Magician ||||||||

Silent Magician |||||||

Winged Dragon of Ra ||||||||

Kuriboh |

Horus the Black Flame Dragon |||||

Elemental Hero Flame Wingman |

Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast |

Arcanite Magician || |

Divine Dragon Ragnarok ||

Voting is now officially closed and the winner to be Harry's Ka is: **Magician of Black Chaos**

I have to say, I'm happy with the winner…Magician of Black Chaos should go very well with my plans *cackles Bakura-style*

Well, see ya all next chapter!


	9. Sorcerer's Apprentice

**Chapter Nine**

Sorcerer's Apprentice

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About fifteen minutes after he had accidentally attacked the King of Egypt in some random hallway of said King's Palace (and man, he would never live _that_ down) Harry finally found himself standing just outside of Mahaad's rooms, where the much awaited (and just slightly dreaded) magic lessons would take place. At his side stood the target of the aforementioned accidental attack, who had apparently decided to play tourist guide and (mercifully) led him here. Harry wasn't sure if he should be thankful that the Pharaoh had helped him out, or mortified that he had needed the help of the man he'd attacked.

"Well, I suppose you are about to see exactly how skilled at magic you can become. Just remember to believe in yourself and work hard and I'm sure you will someday become one of the greatest Magicians this world has seen"

The Pharaoh's encouragement and his honest confidence in Harry's skills served to lift the boy's mood rather easily. He gave a firm nod "I will, and I won't let you or myself down"

With a smile on his face and a gesture of goodbye, the Pharaoh turned around and left back the way they'd come from, leaving Harry by himself once more. Being alone didn't matter anymore, though, because now he had a purpose and, dare he say it, he also had a new friend. Vaguely the young wizard wondered how many people would dare call the Pharaoh 'friend'.

Without wasting any more time (especially since he was already a bit late) he called out, not daring to let himself in "Err…Mahaad? Are you there?"

The silence was a bit deafening, but then was suddenly broken by a soft mumble that sounded vaguely like permission to go in. Shrugging and decided that it was alright to enter now that he'd at least announced his presence, he walked in. The place was certainly befitting for someone of Mahaad's rank, very spacious and obviously high-class, with apparently polished floors and painted columns, ornate vases and the like…the effect was, however, a little lost thanks to the almost scary amounts of paper… _'Papyrus'_ his mind helpfully supplied of its own….scattered around. '_Mahaad's been busy with research_' It was easy for Harry to recognize the signs of a research-frenzy, since he had participated in one too many and witnessed several more from either exam-panicked Ravenclaws or Hermione. The place was also separated into several rooms, silken drapes preventing him from looking into said rooms, acting like doors, and Harry had to wonder exactly in which one his new teacher was (as well as suppress that almost overwhelming need to have a look around that had developed after so many mystery-solving adventures).

He fortunately didn't have time for his snooping tendencies to manifest before someone's head peeked out from behind one of the drapes. Harry didn't have trouble remembering the brown-haired girl, she had a bit of an unforgettable personality.

"Harry!" The girl offered a sincerely happy smile and enthusiastic wave in greeting "Come on already! Master Mahaad and I were waiting for you for ages"

Ah, so his delay had been noticed. Harry tried not to outwardly wince at this as he approached the girl at the same time he answered "Good morning, Mana. Um…sorry about taking so long, but this place is huge and confusing and it took me a while to figure out where to go" Harry was lying here, but he had no intentions of ever sharing the little incident with the Pharaoh with anyone…he would take that to his grave if he could.

"Oh…so you got lost again?" The girl somehow managed to keep a perfectly innocent face even as her forest green eyes showed a decidedly evil glint and her voice left little doubt of exactly how much amusement she was having at his expense "Knock anyone else down?"

Fortunately, he was saved from having to answer that one when Mahaad called from inside the room. "Mana, leave him be. Harry, come in" The sorceress-in-training pouted before going in back, apparently not liking her fun being cut short, and Harry sent a quick thanks to Ra that he had gotten away from that before following her.

It was easy to see what the purpose of this room was. If Harry had thought the other one was full of reading material, then he would have to say this one was almost _swamped_ in it, scrolls and books and papers of all sizes were neatly piled on tables or arranged into pigeonholes. This was rather obviously a study.

Mahaad was currently looking over some scrolls, apparently really interested in what they said. Harry stood awkwardly at the entrance for a minute or so before the older man finally looked up and addressed him. "Well, I believe it is time to begin your lesson, my new apprentice. Please take a seat and we shall begin" Harry did just that, sitting on a simple but sturdy wooden chair across from his teacher, all ready to begin.

"The first thing we will be doing is testing you, to see what you know and what parts of your knowledge differ from mine"

Harry felt his stomach sinking at this. He couldn't do magic without his wand yet, and he would certainly not be trying after what had happened just recently. "I-I can't do any magic right now"

At this, Mahaad shot him a questioning look and Mana turned away from the book she had apparently been studying, apparently interested. Harry almost winced again and proceeded to explain, telling them just what he had told Atem, about the loss of his wand and his need for it.

"I see. Well then, no spells for now, but perhaps you could tell me what you think magic is?"

The question left Harry floored. What magic is? Magic just _was_. He didn't know what it was made of, or how it first came to being…he wasn't sure he even understood how it worked.

"It's…um. It's energy…" this much he was sure of, because magic _felt_ like energy, like heat and electricity and sometimes almost like life "…that some people, like us, have and others don't?" He didn't mean to make it sound like a question, but it unfortunately came out like that.

Mana gave a giggle at his answer and hid her mouth (probably smiling) behind her hand (probably trying to stifle more giggles). Mahaad shot her a reproaching look and the giggling stopped, but the torment was apparently not over yet "That's silly! Who told you that? Whoever did wasn't very smart, you know. _Everyone_ has magic…I thought all Magicians knew that"

At this, Harry blushed in embarrassment for the second time in the last half hour. Mana's statement irked him though, and he decided to forget embarrassment in order to defend his point. "Well, if that's true then how come only a few of us can use it? Most people can't…why can't they if they also have it?" He challenged, green eyes meeting green eyes and neither apprentice backing down.

"Stop it, both of you. Mana, even if you are right, your way of stating so was rather rude and you Harry, please don't encourage her"

At Mahaad's intervention both apprentices backed down, looking slightly sheepish.

"As for your question Harry, it is indeed true not only a few select people can use magic as we do, but this does not mean they don't possess it. Magic is the spark which lights up life, and is present in each and every living creature from the very moment they are created. Without magic, there is no life. Magicians like us, however, are blessed with a larger amount of magic than normal, giving us the ability to wield it and use it for more than just sustaining our life force"

Harry was by now attentively listening, the rest of the world unimportant as he began to finally understand something that was a very important part of himself. He vaguely wondered why no one had ever explained this at Hogwarts, but was much too busy listening to Mahaad to really care at the moment.

"When we die and our souls leave this realm, our magic remains and it is used to spark new life. So you see, our magic is constantly reborn into new beings, constantly creating life, changing and shifting. Magic is also as sentient as the being it sparked life into, which makes human magic very powerful, capable of adapting to almost anything, but also very fickle and dangerous"

And that explained why his magic was so wacky, and why it sometimes did things out of its own accord, without him being aware of it until it's done.

"It is because of this that we sorcerers have to train and study for so long, to keep our magic under control, but also to keep it strong. Always be careful of controlling your magic, lest you find it controlling you instead, and never stop using it for long periods of time, or you might find it has weakened. This is mostly important while your magic is still growing, like now, and might not make too great a difference once it has matured"

'_What? Why did no one ever mention that before? I spent every summer using absolutely no magic…wait, every single student spends every summer with absolutely no magic and, if what Mahaad says is true, our magic is still growing…and being stumped or something. What is the Ministry thinking?'_

His face must have shown his horror at this revelation, for Mana shot him a worried look all of the sudden "Harry, are you alright?"

Waking up from his thoughts and realizing that the other two were looking at him worriedly, but clearly expecting an answer "Yes…it's just. Well, back there's this law that forbids students from using their magic during the summer, when there's no teachers to keep an eye on us"

And now it was their turn to look horrified "T-the whole summer? But that's a quarter of the year! If you're really young and you stop using your magic for so long, it might never grow to its full potential" Mana's voice was a bit shaky and she turned away from Harry as soon as she'd finished saying her part, turning to look at Mahaad as though hoping he would explain to her why someone would do anything like that.

"And this law, it affects students of all ages?" Mahaad's voice was calm, but there was some worry subtly laced there.

"Well, we only study from ages eleven to seventeen. When you turn seventeen, you can practice magic anytime you want" Harry decided it was best not to add the 'as long as it's not in front of muggles' that should have followed, since he had found out that magic wasn't exactly a secret here and wasn't sure they would understand the need to keep it secret back home.

Mana let out a loud gasp and turned again to Mahaad, her eyes almost begging for an explanation. Harry was startled when he also turned to the Master Magician and saw a look of anger on his normally calm face, his eyes were almost smoldering.

"Err…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything" He said, certainly regretting having interrupted such a wonderful lesson for something that only served to anger and worry the other two.

Mahaad shook his head, his face once again returning to its usual calm look, even if his eyes were still alight with residual rage. "No, I'm the one who should be apologizing. My anger was not directed at you, Harry, but at whoever ruler of yours that decided to create such a horrible law. You see, the younger you are, the more your magic is growing and changing, and to force such long interruptions in the training of eleven-year old magicians is most certainly detrimental to their magic…Those children might never live up to their full potential" At the last part, Mahaad shook his head sadly, as though mourning the loss of magic those children would experience.

Harry, who was by no means a big fan of the ministry after what they'd done to him this past year, felt a wave of anger and indignation threatening to take over him. No wonder magic was growing weaker and weaker with each generation…and those self-righteous purebloods were blaming it on the muggleborn when it was their laws creating the problem all along! _'If I ever get back, I'll somehow set a Hungarian Horntail on Fudge'_ When the anger passed he was calm enough to once again remember that this had probably damaged his own magic, and felt fear and sadness stab at his heart.

"I…will my magic ever recover?" His eyes turned to Mahaad, his look serious and pleading, wanting to know the truth but also fearing it. At this the residual anger in Mahaad's face seemed to finally fade as he gave a slight smile and nodded.

"Yes, I believe it will. Your magic is very strong Harry and you have a lot of it as well. Also, you seem to be using it almost constantly, if in small quantities, to test your surroundings. I'm guessing you do not do this consciously, though"

Harry was caught between sighing in relief and blushing again at being reminded of his magic's independent behavior. "Well, no, not really. It's only been doing that for a about a year, though ever since…well, let's just say I almost died but somehow managed to get away. Since then my magic seemed to get paranoia or something and has been doing that"

"Hmn, well, that is not surprising. Magic will always try to protect its wielder and, if pushed enough, like in a close encounter with Death, it is understandable that it reacts like that. You should be able to rein it in, though, or make it expand. This is going to be your first exercise"

'_What? What happened to 'no spells for now'. This cannot possibly end well'_

"Err, well, you see, I sort of tried to do that already and it…didn't go very well" He turned to look at his lap as he muttered the last part, not willing to risk a glance at the other two and find Mana laughing again.

"How did you try it?"

Harry frowned as he recalled exactly what he had done before trying to answer Mahaad's question.

"I think I tried to force it. I mean, it usually works best when I'm in danger, so I tried to make it think I was and it did react, but violently" Now that Harry understood a bit more about his magic, about its sentience and all, he felt bad for trying to trick it like that, especially since it was his fault that he couldn't command it, having only relied on his wand before.

"Again, not surprising. If your magic was convinced that you were in danger it is only natural that it will try to defend you by attacking. To force such a reaction, though, you must have put yourself under a lot of mental stress"

The explanation his new teacher offered certainly didn't make him feel any better, and neither did the fact that he would probably have to explain a bit more about that particular incident.

"It's just that it always seems to respond to my emotions, so I used that, and tried to remember as many situations in which I was in danger as I could…I guess it was pretty stupid of me, trying to scare myself like that" Now, if Harry could only remember exactly what had been going through his head when he decided to implement such a brainless plan it might help him prevent such thoughts in the future.

"I'm glad you at least understand what you did wrong. Emotions are wild and uncontrollable most of the time. Because of this, you can't depend on them to cast your magic, as it might interpret an emotion in a way you did not desire. Magic is much better directed by clear thoughts and strong intent, by will and not feeling. Because of this, the first thing to practice for now will be meditation, clearing your mind"

And wasn't that a joy. He had tried to do precisely that since before Christmas and (as Snape would gladly inform you) he had been a complete failure at it. Still, he didn't want to give up without at least trying, especially not now that he had a teacher he didn't want to antagonize (or disappoint)

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**Author's Notes:** Finally the Magic lessons! This is Chapter nine already! Wow, I almost can't believe it. And a great, big Thanks to everyone for all the reviews! It cheers me up every time I read a new one ^^

About the chapter…Mahaad's theory on magic is based both on what ancient Egyptians believed and what I believe, and hopefully it's a nice mix.

**Magician Girl Mirani:** 'Course I'll give you credit ^-^. As for your questions, at the moment I'm not really sure about the pairings…like I said, the story isn't planned and is still taking shape so that hasn't been decided yet, but I promise to post a decision as soon as I make one. And about Harry in the future, well, I can't just spoil the surprise, now can I? ^_ -

**Reading4soul:** Oh, just because we can't see the spies, doesn't mean they aren't there ^_-

Don't worry, Seth most certainly will be causing Harry trouble sooner or later…it's just much too fun to write XD

Well, see ya all next chapter!


	10. When in Rome…

**Chapter Ten**

When in Rome…

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It had already been a week since Harry had first come to the magnificent land that was Ancient Egypt, and he would have to admit, he was growing rather fond of the place. Oh, he was still confused and ignorant about many things that these people considered common knowledge, but he was beginning to understand them and no longer got completely lost in a conversation. He had several people to thank for this.

The first was Mahaad, as the Priest had apparently decided that it simply would not do to have his apprentice be completely clueless about the going-ons around him. He had convinced Harry that it was alright to ask questions and go to him for knowledge, whether it was related to magic or not. From him, Harry had learned a lot about Egyptian society, ranks and customs, duties of the court and the like.

The second was Atem. The Pharaoh seemed to enjoy talking with Harry and visited frequently (Harry was sure these visits were excuses to escape his Priests for a little while). They had talked about many things, but what the young wizard remembered the most was when Atem had explained to him the beliefs and religion of the people of Egypt. It was absolutely fascinating, and Harry soon found himself asking more questions and increasing his knowledge. It was during one of these talks that he _finally_ understood what was the big deal with the mark that sometimes appeared on his forehead, and why Atem insisted so vehemently that they were equals. That little bit of information had left him speechless for a moment or two, much to Atem's amusement.

The third source of knowledge was the most unexpected. High Priest Seth, the man who had tried to bash Harry in the head when they'd first met (even if the guy denied it), had been unknowingly teaching him about politics. The man could rant for half an hour when he felt someone was opposing his ideas and, for some strange reason, he seemed to feel this way whenever Harry was nearby. These rants proved to awfully informative when he could manage to pay attention.

All in all, he was slowly but steadily growing used to his life here, to the people, the landscape, the food and even the customs. It was nice…and also disconcerting. On one hand, Harry felt much more comfortable than when he'd first arrived, more sure of himself and his role in this new society…on the other, he felt like he was leaving behind the life he'd had before, in the future, and betraying his friends by doing that. This made him feel conflicted, and also made him stubbornly hold on to his memories from the future, which instead of comforting him tormented him with the idea that he might never see that future again. He was hurting himself and he knew it, but the memories were all he had left of that life, as none of his possessions had made the journey with him. It was decidedly strange, trying to resist change while also thriving in it…but then, Harry was probably a textbook definition of 'strange'.

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It was time for his lessons with Mahaad once again and Harry was currently making his way to the Magician's rooms once again, thankfully no longer getting lost. He had finally grown used to the Palace's layout and could find his way around fairly well, then there was also the fact that he had had to visit the Magician enough times that he could probably walk the way to his place while asleep.

As he rounded a corner, his eyes fell on the figure leaning on a wall next to the Magician's rooms. It was Mana, so he wasn't too surprised at seeing her here, but did wonder about why she hadn't gone in yet.

"Mana?"

His voice seemed to rouse the girl, who had been gazing at the floor with a look of dazed boredom, making her look up and meet his eyes. At once, she let out a little happy cry and bounced away from the wall.

"Harry! Guess what? Master Mahaad said we have a free day! Isn't it great? Oh, oh, and he also gave us permission to go into the city, wonderful, isn't it?" At this point, the girl was bouncing on the balls of her feet and nodding enthusiastically. Harry couldn't have stopped his chuckle even if he'd wanted to, or the soft look that his eyes took. He was rather fond of Mana, she was a sweet and energetic girl, very friendly and loyal. Harry sometimes wondered if this is what it felt like to have a little sister, a strange mix of slight exasperation, fondness and protectiveness…he would probably never know.

"Yes, yes, that's great Mana and tell you what, I'll even go with you to the city, to keep you out of trouble and all, but could you tell me why Mahaad cancelled today's lessons? It just doesn't seem like it?" And it didn't. The Magician was one of the more devotedly responsible people Harry had ever known and he took all of his duties very seriously. To have cancelled one of said duties, even for one day, was most certainly not like him.

"Hey! What do you mean keep me out of trouble? I never get in trouble. And if you must know, Master Mahaad is very busy with the Prince and the other Priests today"

The girl's look of indignation only served to feed Harry's amusement and his lips curl into a smile. "Of course you don't, you're a perfectly well-behaved young lady, aren't you?" his smirk and raised eyebrows belied his sentence, though. He also stopped worrying about Mahaad, since Mana's explanation made perfect sense. Out of all of his duties, the one as Priest certainly took priority for Mahaad, so it was understandable that he left them on their own if he was busy with that.

"Are we going to the city or not? I haven't been down there since I was brought it, and considering I was unconscious at the time I don't think it counts" He was by now trying to distract Mana away from her obviously not pleased reaction at being called a trouble-maker (not to be confused with him, who was a trouble-magnet). The exasperated look left her face as she quickly moved to take one of Harry's arms and proceeded to almost drag him to the world that waited outside the Palace's doors. The boy didn't even attempt to complain…he knew better by now.

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Harry had to admit that, for a city so…primitive, it was certainly an interesting and exciting place to visit. He and his fellow Apprentice were by now happily looking through the much varied merchandise being sold at the local market. Harry had, after being dragged directly to this market by an over-enthusiastic Mana, concluded that girls and shopping were as inseparable here as they were millennia in the future, but wisely kept his thoughts to himself (whether this was done because his thoughts included talk of the future or because he didn't want to risk angering the girl, it remains unknown).

Harry was currently looking through some scrolls and maps that the vendor was trying to convince him were almost priceless but since he was obviously someone who knew the good stuff and a polite young man he would have a special price. Harry had almost rolled his eyes at this, but managed to contain the urge.

"Harry! Come and look at this!" Mana's voice easily reached him, even though of all the noise in the marketplace. Sighing and leaving the scrolls (which wasn't that hard, since he wasn't very interested in them and the vendor was starting to get on his nerves), he made to follow said voice towards the girl.

He found her happily looking at a jewelry stand…and again had to control the urge to roll his eyes.

"Yes, Mana?"

The girl didn't even look up from some piece of gold she was examining as she answered. "Come and look at these!"

Harry decided not to put up a fight and get this over with as painlessly as possible, mostly because he had the suspicion that Mana would be impossible to deal with it he refused. He quickly made his way to her side and glanced curiously at the shiny things. Most of it was made of gold, some with jewels and some without, but there were precious stones and the likes also being sold. Harry didn't have much interest in any of them…as far as he was concerned, his bracelets and anklets were more than enough, and he didn't take those off only because you simply don't reject something a _god_ gave you. Fancy things were never his cup of tea.

Mana, however, didn't seem to share his opinion at all. "You should buy some of these, Harry. You're an important person and important people wear gold"

That was an excuse she was using to try and convince him and they both knew it. Mana was not really one to care about what was proper with 'important people'. He shot her a blank look and raised his hands, displaying the bracelets rather pointedly. She gave a huff of exasperation, but didn't give up.

"I mean something else than that! You need to look the part of the…err, _important guest_ that you are" The emphasis on 'important guest' along with the evil glint in her eyes and her challenging smirk quickly let him know that her intentions were most definitely not good…at least for him. If she were to _accidentally_ let it slip out that he was a Marked of Ra, people would make a fuss and stare and bow down or something…in other words, they would focus their attention on him. Harry hated attention, despised it with a passion otherwise reserved for Dark Lords, and Mana knew that. The girl was blackmailing him.

Green eyes met green eyes in an epic battle of wills, neither willing to back down and let the other win. That was, of course, until Mana opened her mouth and took a deep breath, looking ready to yell something loud enough to be heard from here to the Palace. Harry groaned, but finally gave in. "Fine, fine! I'll buy something" He also muttered something about a 'deceptively innocent-looking, loudmouth of a she-devil' but Mana either didn't hear him or ignored him.

Fortunately, Harry remembered something that could very well save him from having to shop for jewelry (of all things). "I don't have any money"

This seemed to make both Mana and the vendor frustrated and turn to glare at him. "What? It's not my fault…where did you think I'd get money from?"

After running into this unexpected obstacle, Mana had to admit defeat, much to Harry's joy and relief, and couldn't bother him about buying anything else for the rest of the trip, much to her disappointment.

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The two apprenticed Magicians were still enjoying their day outside when Harry suddenly stopped right in the middle of the street. Mana noticed soon afterwards and looked back at him, forest green eyes full of curiosity and a bit of worry. "Harry?"

But he didn't hear her, or anything else really. There was something, some feeling that had hit him all of the sudden, like a dagger of coldness and fear going straight through his heart. Something was wrong, he was sure of it this time. The feeling of impending doom that had been nagging at him for the last few days had had a sudden growth spurt, and Harry didn't like it in the least.

He was shaken out of his thoughts by a hand suddenly grasping his forearm and he looked up to meet Mana's worried gaze. He felt bad for worrying her, especially because of some weird feeling that wouldn't leave him alone, one that could mean nothing at all. Still, it bothered him enough to ruin this trip.

"Mana, maybe we should go back to the Palace, we've been out here long enough already" That much was true at least, the afternoon was almost at an end now, sunset quickly approaching. The girl, obviously not believing his excuse but complying nonetheless, nodded and, not letting go of his arm, started the way back to the Palace.

They didn't speak for the rest of the trip, the happy mood having suffered a most tragic death.

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When the two young magicians arrived at the Palace and were about to spilt up and head to their respective quarters, they met with Isis in one of the many hallways. The Priestess looked rather grim and very worried, her posture not at all like the usually proud and firm stance she displayed…she looked as though there was a heavy burden resting on her shoulders and troubling her mind

"What happened?" The boy didn't even bother with greetings and respect as he usually did, some sense of urgency having taken over him. The Priestess looked like she understood his worry and lack of courtesy, but didn't answer. She merely shook her head sadly, her eyes glancing at both young magic-wielders with a look of regret, before she turned and walked away.

Left on their own again, Harry shot Mana a questioning glance, silently asking if she knew what that was all about. The look was mirrored in her own eyes, so he knew that she didn't get it either.

"Never mind, it's probably something to do with politics and court stuff anyways" Harry didn't really believe his own words, but he hated making Mana worry at all and was trying to convince her more than himself. The girl nodded uncertainly, not looking all that convinced either, but accepting his explanation.

"I'll see you tomorrow Harry. Goodnight" And with that, they finally spilt up, each going to get ready for what they just knew would be a restless night.

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Miles away from the city and the Palace, Mahaad was busy setting the trap he had designed for the Thief King, ready to confront the Tomb Robber and oblivious to the worries of his apprentices.

The Magician would never make it out of the temple the trap had been laid into…at least, not as he was now.

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**Author's Notes:** Well, and that was chapter ten! I wasn't sure about the time skip and stuff, but it felt like I needed to move things along a bit. Next chapter's going to be really interesting, to say the least…not to mention extremely sad, so that's why this chapter had a mostly lighter air and stuff.

**IMPORTANT!: ** I was asked about pairings just a little while ago and answered that there was no paining yet decided…well, that's changes now. As I have stated a couple of times before, the story is pretty much being made up as I go along, and the pairing just _clicked_, and fits perfectly for the parts I do have planned. Now, I wouldn't normally post a spoiler for my own story, but I fear that some people might be offended if I don't…so here goes. This story is now officially **SLASH**, and that, my dear readers, means there's going to be a male/male relationship…nothing graphic or exceedingly descriptive and stuff, but still, you've been warned…

Well, see ya all next chapter!


	11. Chaos of the Dark Magician

**Chapter Eleven**

Chaos of the Dark Magician

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Harry was tossing and turning in his sleep, his eyes closed tightly, jaw firmly clenched and hands desperately grasping at his sheets. As any of the boys he shared a dormitory with could tell you, Harry was having a nightmare. This wasn't all that usual, Harry had rather awful nightmares frequently (and really, what else could you expect from someone who had seen as many true horrors as the Boy-Who-Lived?). What set this nightmare apart from the others was the fact that it wasn't solely focused on the Dark Lord that plagued his dreams almost constantly. Oh, the guy did feature in the nightmare, of course, since he seemed like something taken straight out of a horror film, he just _had _to be on the nightmare. But it was very brief. The rest of his horrible dream was taken by memories of the Empty Darkness, only Ra never came to help him; memories of the awful feeling of looming danger he'd been having lately, only multiplied by a hundred; memories of the look in Isis's eyes and in the background Egypt burning to the ground.

Needless to say, it was truly a relief when the stress caused by the dream finally woke him up. He was panting, trying to recover the breath he'd lost because of the horrifying images in his head, and sweat clung to his body rather uncomfortably, and his green eyes still held a small fraction of the helpless fear that had taken over him during his sleep. All in all, he wasn't exactly a picture of health.

Sighing and rising from his bed, already knowing that he would probably not sleep any longer tonight, he made his way to the water jug and basin that the servants always left full and ready to use. He washed his face with the conveniently placed water, all the while mourning the lack of pipes and plumbing, and tried to forget about his dreams.

'_It's not the first time I have one of those, and it certainly won't be the last. Get a grip of yourself, Harry'_

If only it were as easy as that. He sighed again and walked back to his bed but didn't lay down again, that would have been useless anyway, instead he just sat there, legs crossed with his elbows resting on his knees and his hands gripping at his slightly wet and very messy black hair. He hated nights like this, absolutely _loathed_ them.

When someone knocked at his door (rather loudly and continuously, he might add) he was very much grateful for the distraction. Anything was better than being alone with his thoughts after that Ra-damned dream. He would soon find out differently, though.

He made his way to the door, careful not to stumble over anything in the dark of the night and end up making a fool of himself, and opened it. A pair of worried green eyes met his own and the emotion was seemingly transferred to them. Mana.

'_What is she doing here? Did something happen to her? She looks so…down' _And that, more than anything else, worried him. Mana's mood and cheer didn't go down just for nothing, the girl was naturally bright and happy, and she didn't worry that easily either. Something must have happened indeed.

"Mana…what? What is it?" Whatever remains of sleep had survived his nightmare were instantly crushed at Mana's appearance. Harry was wide awake and alert by now.

The girl looked terribly unsure of herself right then, a look that simply didn't fit with Mana, a fist was raised to her chin and she looked like she was about to start biting her nails soon.

"I…It's just. I-I…had a dream" When she finally confessed the source of her worries, she closed her eyes and looked about ready to endure a scolding or have Harry laugh at her…maybe both.

It didn't happen though. As soon as he heard her words, Harry's own worries increased, after all, had he not just awakened from a disturbingly ominous dream? It could be that Mana had suffered the same and if _that_ had happened…well, Harry had taken courses in Divination for two years now and even if the teacher was a fraud and the class a bore, he did know that shared, ominously dark and vivid dreams were not a good sign.

"What did you dream of?" His voice was lowered to a whisper by now, the words left his mouth almost reluctantly. He didn't really want to know, didn't want to prove his fears correct, but he had to, just to be sure.

Mana looked away from him, her eyes seemed distant and lost and she had to gather her courage before she told him. "Master Mahaad was wounded and…and…it looked so real"

Harry would have sighed in relief (because at least she hadn't experienced _his_ dream) but the genuine fear in her eyes stopped him from doing so. Mana was a very strong-willed (read: almost mulishly stubborn) girl and she wasn't likely to get spooked by some dream, even if it featured her wounded Master. All of Harry's instincts (honed after way too many brushes with death) screamed that there was something going on here.

"I was going to go to his Tablet Shrine and try to feel his presence, to know if he was alright, but I didn't want to go alone"

Harry had been about to tell her that he would of course accompany her and everything would be alright, but then he realized that there was something very much wrong with that sentence. If Mana wanted to make sure Mahaad was alright, why not just go see him? Sure, it would be rude to wake the Master Magician up at this hour and all, but it was probably considered much ruder to enter the Shrine without his direct permission. So, why? This didn't make any sense unless…Harry felt his heartbeat increasing slightly at his realization _'unless Mahaad isn't here'_

He put both his hands on Mana's shoulders, and the girl reacted by turning to look at him again. This was serious. "Where is Mahaad?" Harry's voice easily conveyed the urgency of his question and Mana didn't even think before explaining.

"He went out to put some wards over the former Pharaoh's tomb…he was gone by the time we came back from the city but the Prince told me where he was…cause I couldn't find him and I was worried and I _had_ to ask and…he's gone"

Harry didn't need to know much more. He grabbed Mana's hand and proceeded to guide her to Mahaad's Shrine. Maybe their dreams had just been figments of their imagination fed by the rather awful end of their 'free day'…but maybe they weren't and Harry didn't feel confident enough in his luck to chance it.

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The Tablet Shrine had left Harry wide-eyed and slack-jawed the first time he saw it and understood exactly what the strange carvings in the walls were. Mahaad had taken him here about two days ago to explain a little about something he called Shadow Magic. Harry had never heard of it before (and was thankful for that, since this kind of magic sounded both dangerous and…well, dark) and was pretty sure it had been lost sometime during this period and his own.

When they finally arrived at the Shrine, it was only to find an obstacle neither of them wanted to deal with. Guards. And they were refusing entrance to anyone until Mahaad himself was back.

"But we have to go in! This is an emergency" Harry protested, trying to hold Mana back and stop her from running straight into the guards and attempt to fight her own way in.

"I've told you before, boy, no one can go in until Master Mahaad returns" By now the guards seemed to be losing their patience and it certainly didn't help when Mana finally managed to get away from Harry and tried to slip past them. Fast as the girl was, the guards certainly had the good reflexes that were needed in their occupation. She was caught and thrown to the ground with quite a bit more force than necessary. And Harry, ever the chivalrous Gryffindor, couldn't just stand there and see them hit a girl.

"I said you couldn't go in!" The guard's angry shout turned into a cry of surprise and pain when, all of the sudden, he was punched in the face by a rather irritated Harry. Hey, who needed magic when you still had your fists?

'_That was…gratifying. I think I understand why Hermione was so happy after punching Malfoy, this certainly feels good' _His triumphant thoughts were however interrupted when the other guard grabbed him from behind. Harry gave a yelp of surprise and turned to look at his assailant. The man's mask of anger certainly didn't help his confidence, but he still wouldn't back down.

Further fighting, however, was prevented thanks to an unexpected arrival.

"Take your hands off him"

The voice was rich and smooth, commanding and dangerous all at the same time. Harry could recognize the speaker at the very first word. The Pharaoh had come to save the day, it seemed. The guard was quick to obey and throw himself to the ground, kneeling and bowing before his King, his companion soon followed.

Both Harry and Mana turned to look at the Pharaoh, their faces equally surprised and still grateful. The young King gave them a nod and tilted his head in the direction of the entrance to the Shrine, granting them the permission to go in. Well, Pharaoh's permission seemed more than enough to allow them entrance. Harry, understanding that the man wanted them to go in first, quickly took Mana's hand again and half-dragged her inside the Shrine, leaving the King alone with the guards. He almost felt sorry for the guys ('almost' being a very important keyword here) when he saw the serious look on the King's face. Apparently Pharaoh didn't like guards manhandling his friends.

Harry turned away from the scene at the entrance and kept going into the Shrine, but one sentence did manage to make its way to his ears.

"Never touch him again"

'_Huh? He must have meant 'them''_ But he didn't have more time to think about it before he was distracted with glancing at the figures carved in the walls. He felt shivers run up his spine. Each creature now carved on the walls had once been part of the soul of a person, most often a criminal who had gotten punished like this. Harry didn't exactly like the idea behind this whole thing, but even he had to admit that it was mighty useful, punishing criminals and giving the protector of Egypt an army of very strong creatures that could be summoned at will.

Soon enough the Pharaoh joined them inside the shrine and all three of them stood on the raised platform in the center of the Shrine. Mana had once again explained about her dream and Harry, who had debating whether or not to tell them, was about to confess his own when one of the tablets on the wall started to shine.

"Could it be that Mahaad is calling on his Ka to fight?" Atem's voice sounded worried at this revelation. Harry, as much as he wanted to ask exactly what that meant, kept his questions to himself since this hardly seemed the time for what might be a long explanation on Shadow Magic.

"We have to get to him! He has to be in danger, Prince, or he wouldn't do that!" Mana's worry had apparently doubled by now and her voice was almost pleading for them to do _something_, anything to help her teacher. The Pharaoh turned to look at Harry, a question clearly in his eyes, and the young magician answered with a nod.

"Let's go"

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They were ridding through the desert on two horses, Atem taking Mana with him since he was the more experienced rider (Harry's own experience extended only to Hippogriffs and Thestrals). Their destination was of course the Valley of Kings, where the tomb of the former Pharaoh was located and Mahaad was supposed to be.

They never reached said destination, as what Harry could only describe as a most impressive light show called for their attention. Harry's senses, which had been steadily growing thanks to Mahaad's teachings and the exercises of meditation he was forced to endure, told him that there was some serious magic going on in that direction and that could only mean Mahaad wasn't where he'd said he'd be.

The other two apparently had come to the same conclusion and Mana had even remembered that the magicians training temple was in that direction. But why would Mahaad go there? It didn't make any sense to any of them, but they could hardly waste anymore time standing there and trying to figure it out.

The feeling that had been bothering Harry for so many days was at its peak by now, feeding his fears and giving him an overwhelming sense of urgency. Whatever catastrophe he had been feeling would come, would come _now. _

With a desperation and urgency that he had felt just recently, when he and his friends had stormed into the Ministry of Magic to try and save his godfather, he tried to make his horse go faster. He _had_ to go faster. If only he had his beloved Firebolt with him, he would be there by now already.

_Too slow. Can't do anything. Slow. Couldn't save Sirius. Can't save Mahaad. Slow. Too slow._

Having worked himself into a panic by now Harry couldn't even feel it when his magic, which he could control much better by now even though it hadn't yet been broken of its habit of reacting to his emotions, flared around him in response to said panic and, just as it had happened once when he was little and Dudley's gang had chased him in school, he just disappeared…horse and all.

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When they reappeared, somewhere completely different by the way, the horse fell down, apparently too disoriented by the magical jump through space, and threw his rider to the ground. Harry gave a gasp of surprise and wince of pain as his back connected rather painfully with some rocks. He opened his eyes, quickly scanning his new surroundings in search for danger. There apparently wasn't any, but this didn't make him relax.

A small group of guards were standing just a few yards away from where he'd landed (painfully). Some of them seemed to recognize him, as they worked at the palace, and quickly rushed to help him. He batted away at the hands trying to help him up, still desperate to help his now favorite teacher. His eyes glanced at the guards, not really lingering in any of them specifically as he spoke.

"Where's Mahaad?"

He didn't raise his voice or anything, but there must have been something in his eyes that let the men know that this was serious and urgent and they had to answer _now. _One of them pointed at an entrance currently being blocked by rocks.

"There. He ordered to be trapped in there…with the Thief King"

Harry had heard about the Thief King, of course, talk of him was all over the palace and the city. The man was apparently a renowned criminal who just appeared one day and started threatening Egypt, he was also supposedly the best thief to ever exist and people were terrified of him. All in all, the man was dangerous and currently alone with his teacher. Not good. And to make things even worse, there was no way he could move all those rocks away from the entrance manually even if he somehow managed to convince the soldiers to help him.

'_Are you a wizard or not?'_

But what use was magic when you didn't know how to properly use it? Harry knew how to access his magic, it had been one of the first lessons covered by Mahaad, but they hadn't yet reached the point of practice so he had never actually _done_ it (studied how to, sure, done it, nu-uh).

'_Are you a Gryffindor or not?'_

Well, he had no other options left and little to lose if it didn't work (as long as nothing blew up, of course) so he decided to at least try. Quickly recalling the steps Mahaad had almost drilled into his head during lessons, he tried to calm himself first. It wasn't easy, as the panic from before still lingered somewhat, but he was determined not to let his wild emotions stop him from helping someone he considered both mentor and friend. He took deep breaths and focused, looking inside himself as the Master Magician had taught him during long hours of meditation and study. There was a well of energy inside of him, somewhere, and he had to call that energy to the surface. When he found it, his whole body shivered with the power and familiarity of it. It seemed almost welcoming, almost _happy_ to be found. Harry had never before realized exactly how important a part of himself his magic was. It made him whole, made him who he was.

Now, however, was not the time for life-changing revelations and realizations, he still had a job to finish here. Grasping at some of the magic, which again made him shiver, he tried to call it to his hand and give it a purpose, bend it to his will. It was _his_ magic and it _would _obey him. Slowly, he could feel a stream of magic connecting his hand to the well inside him and, confident that he had finally managed it, quickly pointed said hand to the blocked entrance (almost brandishing like a sword in the process) and simply let go of the magic.

The results were unexpected but still somewhat acceptable. As soon as the light that had shot from his palm hit, the rocks were vanished, just as he'd wanted, but he had been sent to his knees in sudden exhaustion by it. That was strange, to say the least, as such a simple spell shouldn't have consumed even half of his energy, and it felt like he had run a marathon or two. Panting for breath but still unwilling to admit defeat, he got up. The soldiers around him took a step or two back and murmured in awe and a bit of fear.

Harry didn't even spare them a glance before making his way into the temple, having to hold on to the walls in order to remain standing; he didn't even register the sound of and approaching horse.

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It was dark inside the temple, but there was fortunately only one corridor and no way to get lost yet, so Harry didn't much mind the dark. He walked, determined to reach the man who had taught him so much and had come to be such a close friend in such a short time. He wasn't sure what he would do once he did reach Mahaad though, since his magic was kind of depleted by now and he was too tired to even walk on his own, but he'd cross that bridge once he got to it.

There was light coming from the end of the corridor, and the sounds of what could only be a battle going on. This gave him a bit more strength, as the urgency from before took over again, and he quickened his steps.

The sight that greeted him when he finally reached the dim light was enough to make even Harry, who had witnessed the return of a Dark Lord from the grave, gasp in surprise. Mahaad and a white-haired man were standing one in front of the other, with what looked like axes on pendulums and Shadow creatures standing between them. Harry had heard enough about Shadow Games to know one when he saw one, and to understand the consequences of losing, which didn't help soothe his fears at all.

He could only watch in disbelief as Mahaad did something that could only be considered suicide. But why?

"Mahaad!"

His shout echoed in the vastness of the room, helping to momentarily distract the Thief that had been about to catch the Ring that had been Mahaad's to keep and protect. The grey eyes of the Thief King widened only slightly at finding that he wasn't alone, but quickly dismissed the dead-on-his-feet boy in order to retrieve his precious Millennium Item.

Harry, in a fit of rage, sadness, desperation and a deep loathing unknowingly did something Mahaad had once warned was very dangerous to try for someone inexperienced. He summoned his soul-creature. His own Ka.

A deep purple and crimson aura started to shine around him, crackling angrily along with his magic. Harry was much too busy hating the Thief to notice at first. The aura expanded and grew and _morphed_, shooting away from his body and separating from the rest of him while still attached to his consciousness and life force. The energy started to take shape while Harry watched wide-eyed, soon accompanied by the Thief.

Slowly, the purple and crimson light dimmed, revealing a very-much-solid-looking figure standing there. The figure was tall and imposing, not to mention quite frightening, dressed in black from head to toe with bands of crimson breaking the monochromatic look, a rather large hat that might remind some of a jester's (only this looked more imposing than funny) perched on his head, and a long, deadly-looking staff firmly gripped in his right hand, put together with the blue skin with black marks, red-on-yellow glaring eyes and long wild-looking raven hair, it was a sight that commanded respect.

Harry had trouble comprehending what was happening. He knew about Ka's, of course, but he didn't think he was supposed to be able to summon his yet. Even if he could accept having been able to (because really, this wouldn't be the first time Harry Potter did the impossible), he had trouble accepting _this_ creature as his. A summoned Ka was supposed to be a physical representation of one of the seven parts of his soul, a representation of himself, and this creature looked so mighty and imposing…so _strong_ and _dark_ that Harry couldn't believe it was his.

He was broken out of his thoughts by a voice he didn't think he would ever hear again.

"Harry!"

The young wizard turned to look at what had once been Mahaad's Ka and gasped in surprise when he recognized the face the Shadow creature now wore. It was his teacher's. What the hell had Mahaad done to accomplish _that_?

The shout, however, also seemed to wake the Thief up from his surprise at the appearance of Harry's soul-creature. The man gritted his teeth angrily, casting wary glances at the two magicians and at the Ring that lay almost forgotten on the ground between himself and Mahaad. He was caught in the middle of the two (or rather, three) magicians, the blades still swinging nearby, and he still had to recover the Ring.

"Diabound! Attack!"

The Thief pointed at a surprised Harry as he gave his command, having decided that since the youngest was blocking his only way out, he would have to be dealt with first. The half-snake monster quickly obeyed, launching its attack at the paralyzed wizard, who only had time to raise his arms in a vain attempt to protect himself. Diabound's attack was fortunately blocked by Harry's own Ka, as the magician-creature had quickly put himself between his master and the other, brandishing his staff and negating the attack. He also looked _pissed_, his bizarre eyes narrowed into an angry glare that could put fear directly into men's hearts, and retaliated with a blast of magic that the other unfortunately managed to dodge.

Harry's body shook as he felt that magic charge. It wasn't light or dark, but _both_, united together and yet warring with each other, it was _chaotic_. His Magician was soon joined in attacking the Thief's Diabound by Mahaad, who had apparently recovered from whatever it was he had done before and was also trying to blast the monstrous thing into little bits. The bloody thing kept dodging, however, and the magical blasts kept connecting with the walls, threatening to bring the whole thing down on their heads. None of them noticed, too busy with trying to kill one another.

Harry's attention was soon taken away from the battle by yet another unexpected voice.

"Harry! We're here!"

The sound of Mana's worried voice made Harry's blood freeze in his veins. He turned to the corridor he had exited just a little while ago, which now seemed almost an eternity, and saw the two companions he'd left behind when he had accidentally apparated.

"Atem! Mana!" He even forgot his usual reluctance to address the Pharaoh by his name while in the company of others, much more worried with their safety than propriety "Get out of here!"

The arrival of the two unfortunately also served to distract Mahaad, who shared Harry's worry for his friends, and gave Diabound the perfect opportunity to attack. The Thief had obviously also noticed the presence of his mortal enemy, the Pharaoh, and decided that he made a much better prey. At a signal from its master, the gigantic Diabound attacked the distracted Pharaoh. Mahaad barely had time to block some of the attack with his own body, getting himself blasted into the wall in the process, and leaving the three young humans to be protected by Harry's Ka. The magician blocked the rest of the attack, but the walls had by now taken as much abuse as they could handle, and the whole place was shaking ominously, rocks and dust starting to fall from the ceiling.

"Harry! Take them out of here!" Mahaad's voice left little room for arguments, the urgency clear and loud, but Harry was still hesitating, not willing to leave the elder Magician all by himself. Mahaad seemed to understand this and, even as he moved back to the battle going on between the other two Shadow creatures, tried to convince him. "It has always been my duty to protect them. My King and my Apprentice. My friends. My duty is your now, Harry. _Go_"

And Harry understood, he really did, even if he didn't want to. He didn't want to leave Mahaad, didn't want to save himself…but it no longer was about what he wanted, this was about what _needed_ to be done, and he wouldn't disappoint his teacher. He nodded, his eyes suspiciously moist, and Mahaad answered with one of his calm smiled before he once again joined the fray. Harry quickly made one of those rash decisions he was so famous for, extending his hand to the forgotten Ring, bringing what little magic he had left for now back to the surface "_Accio!_" The familiar spell seemed to work well enough as the golden Item flew into his grasp.

"No! My Ring!" Apparently, the Thief had also noticed that Harry was making away with his prize. The young wizard felt almost tempted to stop and turn to look at the Thief, if only for the gratification of seeing his enemy angry, but knew he had much more important things to worry about right now.

Harry ran to the other two, taking one of their hands in each of his and swiftly dragging them back to the entrance. The corridor was slowly being buried in the collapsing ceiling and the young wizard called out to his soul-creature, sending a quick prayer to Ra that he would obey. "Clear the way for us"

With many protests from both Atem and Mana, the three left.

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It took several magic blasts before the three could finally make it out of what nearly became their tomb, all covered in dust and grime. All devastated by what had happened inside. Harry, his whole body exhausted and weary from all the stress and abuse it had gone through, was on his hands and knees by now, panting and trying to bring oxygen to his burning lungs, a few tears finally escaping from his green eyes only to quickly disappear as they were absorbed by the dry land.

Part of the bloody canyon had crumbled down, buried the entrance in what probably were tons of stone and dirt…and Mahaad with it. Mana was crying loudly now, calling to her Master and trying to lift the rocks out of the way. Atem was standing there, looking at nothing, his eyes glazed in disbelief. And all three of them mourned.

Apparently finally understanding that she wouldn't get through, Mana shifted her attention towards Harry, who was just now starting to stand back up. The girl attacked him all of the sudden, her face full of sadness and anger and helplessness as she tackled him to the ground and proceeded to pound his chest with her fists.

"Why did you do that? You left him there! You left him! He needed us and you took us away! Why? Why?" Her words cut deep into Harry's heart and soul, something inside of him dying that very moment as he stopped her attack and took her hands into his.

"Because I had to. Because he asked me to" His voice sounded broken as he answered, as though all the fight had been drained of his body.

Atem, apparently having been shaken away from his thoughts by Mana's raised voice and desperate sobbing, made his way towards them and deftly took the distressed girl off Harry, also offering the sorcerer a hand.

Harry took said hand and lifted himself up Atem's help, but didn't let go even when he was standing once again. The Pharaoh's eyes were locked on his, their gazes connected and refusing to separate. There was grudging understanding in those eyes, acceptance. Finally, the Pharaoh nodded, and Harry felt only relief that Atem did indeed understand why he had done what he'd done, even if he didn't like it one little bit.

For one moment it was just the two of them, two young men carrying equally heavy burdens, two young men who understood Death and Sacrifice much too well…who found comfort in one another.

And the moment was broken when the voices of the soldier Harry had forgotten about called for their attention. "The Tablet! Look at the Tablet!" There were murmurs as well as raised voices, but they all conveyed the same message in one way or another, something about a tablet.

Harry turned to them, his eyes finally leaving the Pharaoh's, only to rest upon the stone tablet he had not even noticed before now. It was the kind of tablet that was used to seal the Ka of punished criminals and Harry could only guess that Mahaad had had it brought here in order to seal the Thief's…only, it wasn't Diabound who was now sealed in stone. It was a Magician. Mahaad. The Dark Magician.

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**Author's Notes:** I don't even know if I'm happy that I finally wrote this chapter, or really sad that I did. I had to watch the episode dealing with this whole thing several times to take care of detail and then I wrote this and let me tell you I'm about ready to curl up and cry…

So there, chapter eleven. Again, not sure if I like it. I wasn't even sure if I wanted Harry's ka to make an appearance at the same time as the Dark Magician, seemed like stealing his thunder or something, but finally decided that it seemed appropriate…I mean, Harry somehow always managed to do some impossible thing when someone else is in danger so yeah…

Thanks to everyone for the reviews, you guys are what keep me writing this story, your ideas and your comments and everything feeds it, so please keep making them.


	12. Interlude: Birth of Chaos

**Chapter Twelve**

Interlude: Chaos

Or

Why can't Harry be normal?

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He had waited. Existed and waited in the Darkness for a time so long that it simply couldn't be measured. His very existence was almost painful in its lack of purpose. He existed…but why? Still, he had endured in the darkness, eagerly and yet patiently waiting for the right time, the time when he would be brought back to the light, when he was summoned, when he was _needed_.

After eons being part of the Darkness, his very essence almost lost in the infinity of it, the time finally arrived. He felt a stirring, something pulling inside of him, nudging him awake. He felt happiness fill him, he had a _purpose_, he had a _reason_. He gave in to the pull, allowing it to guide his almost insubstantial being to the one who had called him, to the one whose soul he was.

When he opened his eyes for the first time in this Physical World, he was greeted with the sight of dim light (_Light!_) and other beings. His connection to his summoner, his mortal part, quickly allowed him to make sense of the situation, and he felt a deep, bottomless hatred for the ones who had dared hurt his mortal. _How dare they!_ He would teach them not to mess with _his_ human, not to mess with _him_.

When he had seen the other Shadow preparing for attack, he had assumed that said attack would be directed at him, as it was the way things were supposed to be, Shadow against Shadow in a battle to the death, it was the honorable way. The other, however, attacked his human instead, his more fragile, mortal part. He felt anger and indignation boiling in his blood, screaming, demanding vengeance for such a lowly, cowardly act. Vengeance would have to wait, however, since he had to protect his mortal.

Using all the speed he possessed, he placed himself before the attack, his dear, deadly staff raised and his magic already charging on it, ready to cancel the other's attack. Once his mortal was safe, he wasted no time in returning the attack. He would teach them, make them feel his wrath. _He_ was honorable, though, and attacked the Shadow, as it was supposed to be, instead of his summoner. He did not need to cheat in order to win this battle.

Soon enough he was joined by a fellow Magician. He had at first thought to attack him as well, as it was in his nature to fight other Shadows, but his connection to his mortal told him that this was a dear friend and an ally. He wouldn't harm him.

The mortals were being their silly selves, talking and discussing amongst each other while the Shadows battled and even his brother Magician was distracted by them. _Fool, you should be fighting_. But he didn't say anything, knowing that the other was new to this lifestyle and would probably need time to learn the rules.

Their silly distraction almost proved fatal soon enough, when the enemy Shadow had managed to slip past him and attack them. His brother managed to react and block part of the attack using his own body. He couldn't help but feel respect for the other at that, his loyalty to these mortals was obviously great and he truly wished to protect them. Moving quickly again, he intercepted the rest of said attack, keeping the silly humans safe for now. It didn't look like it would be safe for long, though, as their dwelling was starting to crumble down. He didn't do anything about that though, since he wasn't sure what exactly he could do.

Fortunately, his human was smart enough to know that they needed to get out, and take the other two mortals with him. When ordered to clear their path of escape, he hurried to comply in order to keep his mortal part safe. They could be so fragile.

As they left, he sent a last glance at his newborn brother, his ruby gaze letting him know that he appreciated the sacrifice he was doing for the mortals, and that said sacrifice wouldn't be in vain. The other met his gaze and answered it with a quick nod before gesturing that he should leave. He did and left his brother to a fate of Darkness. He decided then that he would do his best to protect not only his own mortal, but those that the other had also sacrificed himself to save. It was the least he could do, and they were close to his human anyways so it was probably best to take care of them.

When they finally reached the outside, he spared a moment to glance at the world around him, amazed by it, before turning to keep vigil over the mortals. More humans were present now, and they regarded him with fear and awe. He smirked at that, feeling particularly smug, before he was distracted by the sharp pang of loss and regret that traveled through the bond with his summoner. He almost sighed sadly at that, but it was a much too human-like action. His mortal obviously regretted having left the other Magician and he had to admit that he regretted it himself, but things were as they were, nothing would change that.

At least none of the mortals had died. And with them out of danger for the moment (the memories he could glimpse from his summoner let him know that this probably wouldn't last all that long anyways), he decided that it was time to go. The thought of going back to the Darkness to wait until he was needed again almost made him cringe, it was most certainly displeasing and not at all a welcome thought. He didn't want to go back. He _wouldn't_. But…that was how it was supposed to be. You come to the Physical world when called, when needed, and then return to an existence of insubstantiality and waiting and half-consciousness…you go back to being a Shadow in a sea of Darkness. But he didn't _want_ to!

And as he was fading away, mostly against his will, he noticed _it_. There was a loose trail of energy hanging around his summoner, coming from inside of him but tasting the surroundings, something that at the moment didn't have a purpose but had energy to complete whatever purpose it was given. This was _opportunity!_

Gleeful at his discovery, he hurried to do _something_ before he faded away completely. He couldn't sustain a body in this world for too long, and it was unlikely that even this Energy could give him one for an infinite amount of time, but it was certainly enough to _tie _him to the Human Realm. Acting hurriedly, though careful, lest he hurt his human, he bound his fading essence to the energy. The feeling he got was one of being _there_ and yet not, of being split apart and yet together as he bound together things that weren't meant to be bound. His human's magic was now bound to him, a part of the human's soul that could exist outside his body.

The human went down on his hands and knees at the inner backlash this bizarre fusion caused. Thankfully, he had taken the majority of the…err, reaction, on himself and was pretty sure his mortal didn't know what had just happened to him. If he did, he was quickly distracted by the girl hitting him. He wondered briefly if he should protect him from the girl before deciding that he had more important things to do at the moment...and besides, his temporal body had faded and become immaterial by now. The only reason he was even in this world still was his desperate merging with his summoner's magic.

He quickly checked on his mortal, trying to make sure that his rather hasty (and decidedly reckless) actions hadn't harmed the boy's magic or soul in some way. He seemed fine, if exhausted. Relief washed over him when he discovered that, along with the fact that his plan had apparently worked since he could no longer feel the pull trying to take him back to the Darkness. He wasn't even fully in this Realm, he couldn't touch anything or interact with anything, be seen or heard unless he used more of his mortal's magic or Ba, and the boy was much too exhausted to freely grant any. In this state he was less than a ghost, little more than a shadow, vigilant and watchful, but not _real_.

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**Author's Notes:** That was a very short chapter…well, I don't think it's even a chapter, more of a little piece explaining Magician of Black Chaos's side of things. _This_ is one of the things in the story that really were planned, as I always intended to have Harry's Ka be a little bit more…err, more _there_ than others, so there you have it. I guess the idea came to me because Harry would never have a Yami/Spirit that only he could see and protected him…so I have him this. I also have to admit that it is kind of based on Yubel, only different.

Err, well, that all. Oh, and I'm posting this today because I might not be able to tomorrow. Sunday's family day and all and computers are strictly forbidden XD. And thanks for all the reviews, by the way, guys! :D

**DarkLadyIreth:** Oh, he's gonna do _much_ more than just speak ^_-

See ya!


	13. New Guardians

**Chapter Thirteen**

New Guardians

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Daylight had finally returned to the lands of Egypt, chasing away the darkness of the night, but being unable to do the same with the memory of the events that had come to pass that same night.

A heavy air of sadness clung to the small party riding through the desert, back to the safety and opulence of the Royal Palace, their minds lost in depressing thoughts. None of them was likely to forget what had happened this past night, the victory over an enemy paid with the life of a friend. Yes, the Thief King had been trapped inside the temple when it crumbled down, but so had been Mahaad...or some part of him.

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When they finally reached the Palace, Mana barely even waited for the horse to stop before she was already darting away from the rest of them, obviously intending to go hide herself and spend time alone with her thoughts and mourning. Harry knew that being alone at a time like this would probably only make things worse (after all, he had suffered similarly with the death of Cedric Diggory last year, and he had been nowhere near as close to Cedric as Mana was to Mahaad, she was bound to be feeling infinitely worse), and quickly made to intercept her when a hand fell on his shoulder, stopping him. He turned to find out who had done so and was a bit surprised to find Atem there, shaking his head resignedly and just now taking his hand off the magician's shoulder. Harry shot him a questioning look laced with annoyance. Mana needed someone right now so why was Atem, one of Mana's dearest friends, letting her go to suffer alone? It didn't make sense to Harry.

"We shall have to talk with her later. Right now, I'm afraid both of us have much more pressing matter to attend to" Even as he said it, the young Pharaoh looked annoyed that he would (probably not for the first or last time) have to put his duties before his friends. It was obvious that he would much rather go and comfort the distraught girl than attend to whatever it was that needed his attention right now.

Harry had to admit he was quite confused with his statement. Sure, he had spent some time with the Court, learning how they worked and getting to know them (or at least the ones that didn't hate him), but he had never taken part in any of the really important matters, hadn't even been allowed entrance to the throne room those times. So why would Atem say this, obviously important, concerned them both? He shot the Pharaoh yet another questioning glance.

Atem answered with another shake of his head, his eyes straying just for a fraction of a second to the Ring Harry had yet to let go of before looking away once more. "Just come, I will explain once we get there"

Nodding, much too tired to really put up a fight and insist on an answer (not that he'd get any, Atem could be as stubborn as any Gryffindor he'd ever met), he followed after the King. Together, the two young men quickly made their way through the hallways and corridors until they reached the grand doors of the throne room, where (to no one's surprise) the Pharaoh's Court was already waiting. The King gave them a nod and two of them hurried to open the doors.

As they were going in, Set seemed to finally notice Harry's presence in their midst and his traveled from the young magician to the Pharaoh with confusion and no little amount of apprehension. Atem turned to look at him and, though Harry couldn't see the King's eyes since he was walking behind said King, whatever look he gave the Priest was more than enough to make the other back down and not comment on Harry…for the moment. Had the situation been any less somber, the young magician would have been more than happy to smirk triumphantly at Set as he walked into the room with his head held high and watch the angry fireworks light up in the other's eyes (really, the man was much so easy to anger, he was practically asking for it). But as it was, he barely spared the High Priest a glance before he kept moving.

The meeting did not start until the Pharaoh had sat on his throne and addressed the whole Court.

"I believe you have all been informed of the situation" Atem's voice was grave and holding none of the good and light mood Harry had come to enjoy during their many talks. But then, what else did he expect at a time like this?

The Court had indeed been informed, thanks to the handy messenger bird that the soldiers who had accompanied Mahaad had brought with them, in case they needed to send news or a plea for help.

"Yes. I am sorry for what happened, my Pharaoh. I-I didn't…" To hear Isis, who always seemed calm and strong to him, sound so unsure of herself, so sad and almost _broken_ tore at Harry's insides. He remembered of course the way she had looked last afternoon, just after Mahaad had left, sad and burdened. She had _known_. She had known all along and could probably not tell anyone, not if Mahaad had asked her not to, not if it was for the best. Harry wasn't sure if he felt angry or sorry for her. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to know.

Atem raised a hand and she instantly stopped speaking, her eyes downcast, sad and resigned. Harry was quite sure that the Pharaoh had by now come to the same realization concerning Isis as he himself had, and that the Priestess knew this and was ready to accept whatever punishment the Pharaoh would decide was fitting for her silence.

"There is no need, Isis. I believe you did as you had to" The words might not have expressed direct forgiveness, but it was what they conveyed. Harry could not help but feel his admiration for the Pharaoh grow a little stronger at that. Isis had basically condemned one of his best friends to death by not speaking what she knew and he still had forgiven her, and that showed strength of character not many possessed. Harry didn't know if he would ever be able to do the same in such a situation.

"A ceremony is now being arranged for Mahaad. I'm afraid it will be short and maybe not what he deserved…but there is not much else we can do"

Shada's words confused Harry for a moment, for why would they not be able to do more for Mahaad's funeral after the man had died a hero's death. He didn't know much about whatever customs the Egyptians had for the dead and stuff, since this was not at all a pleasant conversation to have with people he had known for a week (even if some of them had come to be so close, Harry already considered them life-long friends), so he didn't understand. It was then that he remembered a little tidbit of information that Ron (of all people) had supplied in the summer before their third year, shortly after his visit to Egypt, about how the Egyptians had had these complicated burial rituals and how they buried loads of goods with their dead and how it was those goods that the Goblins of Gringotts wanted to get, and that was when it suddenly made sense. They _buried_ their people with rituals and goods and ceremony…but in this case, there was nothing to bury. There was no body, no way to go through the customs to give Mahaad a proper farewell. That realization was almost like being kicked in the same spot he had been stabbed shortly before. Not only had Mahaad died for them, they couldn't even give him a proper burial. It was decidedly unfair and almost enough to bring tears to his eyes again with the injustice of it all, but he contained them through sheer force of will.

"And also, we will need to find a replacement for him. Mahaad's duties cannot go unseen to for too long"

Set's voice was calm, a great difference to the usual angry tone it took whenever Harry was around, but his words made the wizard wish he was yelling instead, if only to have a good reason to yell back. He felt his fists tightening, the fingers on his right hand going almost numb from the strength with which he gripped the cool surface of the Ring, and his temper starting to rise. _'How dare he! Is he saying Mahaad is easily replaceable? That someone else can just take his place and everything will be alright again? Argh! That insufferable prick! We all know he never liked Mahaad, but he doesn't have to make it so obvious'_ By the end of his little inner rant, Harry was almost grateful that his magic was so depleted, for otherwise he was sure Set would be little more than a grease spot in the middle of an impressive crater.

He was momentarily distracted from trying to burn holes into a certain High Priest's head with his eyes alone when he saw something out of the corner of his eye, a shadow moving on one of the walls. He turned to look at it better, but found nothing out the ordinary there. Still, his distraction was almost enough to make him miss Atem's next statement.

"That is unnecessary as well, Set. Mahaad himself appointed his…replacement, who is standing right in this room"

At that, all eyes in the room turned to look at Harry, who was still trying to find the moving shadow in the wall until he felt the weight of all the stares and turned to find all attention being directed at him. Then and only then did the Pharaoh's words sink into his tired, stressed and sleep-deprived mind.

"What? M-me? But I can't…I mean, I'm not…I couldn't and…What?"

Needless to say, Harry's mind didn't feel like coping with all of this right now and settled for a natural reaction that didn't require too much work: confusion. And the poor wizard was indeed confused. What the hell was Atem talking about? Harry could not possibly replace Mahaad. He was a foreigner who knew next to nothing about Egypt, surely there was a law against making someone like him a Priest of the Pharaoh's Royal Court. Not to mention, he wasn't even half the magician Mahaad had been. And then there was also the fact that Harry was still hoping to return to his home and time and taking on a responsibility like this only to leave a little later wasn't exactly a good plan. _'But then…what if I never go back? What if I stay stuck here forever? I can't just sit and wait for something to happen. If I have to stay here then I can't spend the rest of my life doing nothing and expecting some miracle. I…I'd have to move on'_ The thought of 'moving on' wasn't exactly a nice one, for it felt like he would be betraying his friends by going on without them. But really, what other choices did he have if he was indeed stuck in this time?

He was fortunately saved from having to answer is own question by the sound of Atem's voice, which sounded almost like the man was trying to be amused at his confusion but was much too burdened with the current going-ons to really find it.

"He wished for you to take on what once were his duties, or have you forgotten? 'My duties are now yours'"

Harry visibly winced at the words, still fresh in his mind as the pain was in his heart. He hadn't forgotten. He would never forget. But still, he was pretty sure that Mahaad only meant for him to protect both Atem and Mana, to get them out of that deathtrap safe and sound, as he had, the man couldn't have possibly expected Harry to take his place.

"But he didn't mean…"

Harry didn't even get to finish his argument before Atem was already countering it.

"He knew perfectly well what speaking those words meant. He proclaimed you his Heir and passed his position on to you"

This time, Harry didn't have to protest, since somebody else decided to intervene. Set, who had until been apparently too shocked to argue, had finally regained his voice and was making good use of it.

"But, my Pharaoh, surely there are others much more qualified. He isn't even _trained_, and he is ignorant of our ways. He couldn't possibly become a Priest"

Atem apparently didn't share his High Priest's sentiment as he waved a hand dismissively, easily making it known that he didn't care about the given reasons not to go on with this. Set closed his mouth and seethed silently, dedicating himself to occasionally shooting Harry dark looks when the Pharaoh wasn't looking.

"He was even Mahaad's apprentice. It is most fitting"

"So was Mana, and for much longer" Harry wasn't willing to give in just yet and simply blurted that out of desperation, only to mentally cringe afterwards when he realized he might have thrown Mana to the lions in order to save himself…even if he got a sadistic sense of triumph when he saw Set twitch (apparently the thought of Mana as a Priestess was even worse than that of Harry as a Priest to him).

Fortunately (or not) the Pharaoh was also unwilling to change his mind. "And yet, even when Mana was also there, he still appointed you. Will you go against the wishes of the deceased?"

At the question, the whole Court once again turned to look at him expectantly and Harry had to suppress another wince. He had to give it to Atem, the man sure knew how to corner someone and leave no way out. No wonder he was considered a Master Strategist. Sighing in defeat, Harry finally gave in.

"What would I have to do? I…don't really know much about these…duties"

At his admission, Set looked like he wanted to start protesting again but was stopped by a rather sharp look sent to him by Priest Akunadin (which was strange, since that man didn't seem to like Harry all that much either).

"First of all is your responsibility over the Millennium Ring. You are its new Guardian now, keep it with you at all times and away from the wrong hands"

Harry quickly turned to glance at the Item still clutched in his hand. He so did _not_ want the thing. For one, it almost felt like stealing from Mahaad (as though taking his place in the Court wasn't enough) and for another, he had never liked the feeling he got from _any_ of the Millennium Items and being forced to keep contact with one of them 24/7 did not sound pleasant at all. Still, he knew a little of the great power they carried and their importance to Egypt and, obviously, of how some might wish to use them for great evil, so he would do his best to protect the thing even if he didn't like it. Sighing in defeat once again, he lifted the blasted thing and placed the cord around his neck, the golden pendant settling on his chest…it felt much too heavy for such a little thing.

"As for the rest of your new duties, Isis can explain them to you"

At the Pharaoh's words, the aforementioned Priestess looked momentarily startled before she offered a slight nod of acceptance. Harry understood that this was to be her punishment, training the replacement of the man whose Fate she had known and not stopped. It was a rather light punishment, considering some of what Harry had heard about, but still painful and fitting for the crime. Harry wasn't sure how he should feel about being used to punish the Priestess and decided to have words with Atem once they were alone and could go back to being just friends instead of Pharaoh and Priest-to-be.

After that, there was a bit more of talk on the matter before they were all dismissed. Harry was the last to leave as his legs were much too tired and protesting having to carry him any sort of distance, so he was the only one there to hear the Pharaoh's next words.

"I'm sorry, Harry"

The apology didn't make it all better, though, and the wizard was still much too confused and stressed and certainly not in the mood to deal with any of this right now, so he pretended not to have heard anything and simply kept going. He still had to go find Mana and make sure she was alright before he even considered going to rest and take a nap, no matter how much his body protested this.

He left without further ado; the silence was awkward and heavy in the throne room and, unknown to Harry, cutting into the Pharaoh's heart.

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**Author's Notes:** Wow, so now Harry has a whole new bunch of responsibilities to attend to on top of learning magic and finding a way back to his time…I almost pity the poor boy. Well, that's chapter Thirteen already! And we've already reached the 200 reviews! This, we have to celebrate…

…So, there's gonna be a new vote starting now! This one is to decide Harry's animagus form. As before, you can vote for whichever one you like or, if you don't think one of the options are what would be best, you can also suggest other forms. We'll start with my two suggestions.

Hawk : Because the guy is described as a natural-born flyer and we all know how much he loves to fly. Then there's also the fact that the hawk or falcon was strongly associated with Ra in Ancient Egypt.

Lion: Well, he _is _a Gryffindor and in Ancient Egypt the lion was connected with the rising and the setting of the sun, and so were thought to be guardians of the horizon and were linked to solar deities (like Ra).

I don't have any other ideas for this, so suggestions are most welcome ^_^

See ya all next chapter! ^_^


	14. Conversations and Forgiveness

**Chapter Fourteen**

Conversations and Forgiveness

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Once Harry had walked a considerable distance away from the dreaded throne room, his thoughts started to drift away from his anger and annoyance at being pressured to take on a set of responsibilities he didn't need because of a position he didn't want and towards the way he had left without acknowledging the apology offered by the Pharaoh. Okay, so he felt _slightly _guilty at that, but he was justified! The man might be King of Egypt and all, but he had always insisted Harry was his equal, so why was he making him his servant then? Then again, Atem was one of the few friends Harry had in this time and he didn't want to lose him just because of some job, he had lost one too many friends already.

Shaking his head and trying to clear it from these sort of thoughts, he kept making his way through the Palace randomly. He was looking for Mana, as the girl had stormed off and not been seen since then, but as his magic was much too depleted he was having to look the old-fashioned way and that implied a lot of walking and searching when all he wanted at the moment was sleep for three days. Joy. But he had to find the girl and he would find her, somehow.

At that thought, he chanced a glance at the golden pendant resting on his chest. He hated the thing, absolutely loathed it. He had hated the Millennium Items since they had been used to temporarily bind his magic, back when he'd first arrived at the Palace, but the Ring now took the honored place of Most Hated Item Ever, because he knew, just _knew_ that this thing could be blamed for Mahaad's death. Still, he remembered his teacher once telling him how he could use the Ring to locate things or people, which was an ability particular of this Item. Harry wondered if he could make it work too, or if one had to have some sort of training for this. And if he could, would he want to? As already stated, he hated the blasted thing, but he would probably have to get used to it anyways and he also wanted to find Mana before the girl went and did something stupid. He sighed, hating having to admit defeat twice in such a sort amount of time (and to a Ring, of all things!) and lifted the Item to his sightline, looking at it suspiciously, as though expecting it to jump and bite his nose or something.

"Well, we're going to be together for quite some time, apparently, so we might as well get used to working with each other. Now, find Mana" Harry felt rather stupid, talking to a golden Ring, and was very much grateful that there was no one else around to witness this.

The Ring (not really all that surprisingly) didn't respond in any way, it just stayed a useless piece of jewelry. Harry guessed that it didn't answer to vocal commands and had to work on magic or something, since it was a magical object, problem was that Harry did _not_ want his magic anywhere _near_ this thing, its own magic felt…dark or something. Harry guessed that was the famous 'Shadow Magic' but as he really knew nothing of that particular branch of magic, he couldn't be all that sure.

Finally accepting that he wouldn't be able to make it work for him, he went back to his search, some part of him very much glad that he hadn't used the Ring.

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He had already checked Mana's rooms, the kitchens (which she was known to visit in order to 'borrow' a snack every once in a while), the room of archives (which Harry just called a library), the stables (the girl seemed to like animals) and had even mustered up enough courage to visit Mahaad's Tablet Shrine (the guards were oddly cooperative this time, almost leaping out of his way before he'd even spoken) and there was absolutely no sign of magician girls anywhere.

Finally much too tired to keep walking, but still much too stubborn to give up; Harry decided to take a short little break in one of the gardens. He sat down underneath the shade of a tree, momentarily cursing the difference in weather between Egypt and England, and leant against the tree trunk.

He was enjoying it here, it was peaceful. Not many people came to the gardens at this time of day, since the sun was a bit too bright and almost everyone sought refuge indoors. The sound of the wind whistling through the leaves and making them rustle was already lulling him to sleep and, having spend more than half the night up and the other half suffering nightmares, Harry was easy prey. He had just closed his eyes and prepared to rest for just a little bit (he was _not_ falling asleep, his eyes were just tired) when something dropped from the top of the tree and landed right in front of him, startling him and making him yelp most in a most undignified way. The something turned out to be Mana, and she didn't look very happy.

"What are you doing with _that_?" She was pointing to the Ring sitting almost innocently on his chest, and poked said chest just for good measure. Harry did _so not_ want to explain this to her. _'Ra-Damn it Atem! You got me into this mess, the least you could do is explain it to her!'_ But it didn't look like this was going to happen anytime soon, so he was on his own.

"Err…it was the Pharaoh's idea, really, and you know how no one can say 'no' to a Pharaoh, right?" He was stalling and she knew it, and the way her annoyed look turned into annoyed glare let him know that she was not going to let it go so easily.

He sighed and gave up (again, damn it!).

"Well, Seth had the bright idea that we needed to find someone to…to take over Mahaad, you know? And then A…err, Pharaoh said that there was already someone. What…what Mahaad said in that temple apparently means that he wanted me to be that someone"

He didn't have to wait very long for the fireworks to start.

"What? So you just…just took over? Tha-that's betrayal, Harry! He was your Master and your friend and you just take his place like that! That's low even for a _foreigner_!"

Harry flinched at the last word. He was a foreigner, and he was happy being one, but the way Mana had said it was meant to be an insult, and it meant she had to be really, really angry, since she had never insulted him before. She turned away and was just about to storm away for the second time that day, but Harry wasn't going to have that.

He got up quickly, leaving his once comfortable little spot, and walked right in front of her, blocking her path. "Look Mana, I didn't want this, okay? I hate this! I hate having to take his place, I hate having to learn a whole new _way of life_, I hate having to guard this bloody Ring, and I hate that you hate me right now! But I can't do anything about it, alright? Someone has to do the job and Mahaad wanted me to and I'll do it…for him" By the end of his tirade, he was much too tired to continue yelling and his voice had lowered to barely above whispering, but Mana seemed to have heard it all.

She looked at him, calculating and suspicious, but finally seemed satisfied that he was honest and stopped scowling at him. "Hmn, if Mahaad chose you and the Prince said it was alright, then I suppose there has to be something right about you. But if you're going to take his place as Priest and Magician then you need a lot, and I mean _a lot_, of practice so starting tomorrow _I_ will be teaching you more about magic, since I was Apprentice long before you and all" She seemed seriously set in doing this and Harry certainly didn't argue, he did need the lessons, after all. The poking-of-doom, to which Harry had been introduced during their first meeting, had also made a reappearance.

Harry was glad and relieved. Mana had offered her forgiveness in her own way and without even having to say the words, and that meant he would be able to keep one of the two friends he had right now. Now, if only he had it in himself to forgive Atem as easily as Mana forgave him. He guessed he would have to have a little talk with the Pharaoh soon enough.

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The opportunity presented itself later that day when he and Mana were back inside the Palace, walking through the hallways in direction of the kitchens since Mana had had nothing to eat all day and Harry was determined to get her something (he would probably have to force-feed her too, since the girl refused to eat on her own), and they crossed paths with none other than the Pharaoh himself.

Atem was standing just around a corner, staring at some figure rounding another corner and disappearing from sight (Harry vaguely recognized the figure as Seth)*, but quickly turned his attention to the two magicians instead. He looked like he wanted to say something, but thought better of it and closed his mouth at the last minute. Harry sympathized with him, he felt much the same way any time he wanted to apologize to someone, and it probably didn't help that there was an audience, even if it was someone as close to both of them as Mana was.

The girl, apparently sensing that there was something going on here and wanting nothing to do with it, quickly started to walk back the way she and Harry had come from "I'm tired, I'll go to my rooms and sleep" was all the two of them got as explanation and farewell. Harry felt kind of betrayed by her desertion, but didn't get the chance to say anything or follow after her before Atem had apparently decided that he was going to speak after all.

"We need to talk"

Short and to the point, as the Pharaoh always was when talking about politics and economy and whatnot with his Court, but never, never when talking to Harry alone. Emerald green eyes narrowed at this. _'So, it's on to Pharaoh and Servant, huh? Alright, if that's what he wants'_

"As you wish, your _Highness"_ His voice was cold and hinting at annoyance, and there was no way anyone would miss the contempt with which the title was spoken. The Pharaoh certainly didn't, as he visibly winced as soon as the word had reached his ears, and Harry suddenly felt torn between triumph and guilt.

"Harry, I-I mean…you don't have to address me like that, you know" It was obviously not what he wanted to say and that only made his annoyance grow. It was Atem who wanted to talk so it was Atem who would have to do most of the talking; Harry was not going to make this easy on him, not just yet. _'Plus, I have to admit it's rather amusing to see the King of Egypt stutter'_

"On the contrary, _your Highness_. It certainly wouldn't be proper for a Priest to address his Pharaoh as familiarly as you want me to" Oh yeah, he was going to drag his feet all through this conversation. Harry was mad and, as anyone in Gryffindor would tell you, when Harry got mad, he got stubborn and a stubborn Harry was difficult to deal with.

"It's not like that and you know it. Why are you doing this? I said I was sorry, but what else could I do?" The man sounded just slightly desperate and very much frustrated. Harry momentarily wondered if he should take pity on his friend before remembering the way he had been coerced into accepting his new job and decided not to.

"You could have _not done this_! Only the three of us know what happened in that temple and no one would have blamed you for choosing someone else for the position even if they had know, which they didn't! I certainly wouldn't have. Why am I doing this, you say? Why are _you_ doing this? You know I don't know anything about being a Priest, you know I'll have a hard time adjusting and you _know_ I _hate_ it. So, why?"

It certainly felt good to get all of that off his chest, but Harry was still not in a forgiving mood, and wouldn't be until he got some explanations, some _very good_ explanations. Atem seemed surprised at being yelled at '_Probably never has had anyone even raise his voice at him'_ but didn't seem at all angry. Rather, the man looked defeated and that, the sight of someone who always seemed like a pillar of strength literarily holding a whole country on his shoulders looking so down, took most of the wind off Harry's sails.

"I really did it because I wanted to respect a friend's last wish…but I do have to admit there was another reason. I just…well, I had my reasons and there really weren't other options left, but that is all you need to know. I know you dislike my decision and I suppose I shall have to respect that, but I am still asking for your forgiveness. There was never any ill will in what I did and I want you to know that much"

So, still no explanation, only the 'I did it and it was for the best and you don't need to know anything else' that Harry was by now so very, very used to hearing…but never from Atem. He remembered then one of the factors that had contributed to his landing in Ancient Egypt: never being told anything. Dumbledore had always used the same excuse Atem was using right now, the same words even, and we all know how well _that_ had turned out.

"Damn it, Atem! You don't get to decide what I need or don't need to know. You're not _my _Pharaoh! You have to make all these decisions on your own, you have to worry about a thousand things and you never share any of that with anyone, before you know it, you're going to go ill or something. _I_ don't need to be sheltered, I'm not a child and if anyone, anyone in this world can understand that, it's you" And Harry honestly thought that. The Pharaoh was his own age, after all, but already burdened with much more than even Harry had experienced, they were so very similar in that.

Atem didn't answer this time, merely looked away, eyes downcast and still looking like Harry had kicked his puppy. The young magician sighed at this, knowing that he had lost the fight anyways. He always, always forgave his friends, it was something he just couldn't help.

"I do forgive you, you know? Just swear never, ever, to do something like that to me again" The look of relief and barely contained joy in those amethyst eyes was enough to make Harry crack a smile. Needless to say, the Pharaoh readily agreed.

Harry was relieved as well, to have his friend back and be on speaking terms with one another again. Atem's friendship was important to Harry, and the young wizard knew that, just like with Ron and Hermione, it was one of those friendships that changes your life and lasted forever. _'Or at least until I go back to a future in which he's been dead for millennia'_ But Harry would take what time he was given and make the most of it _'It's rather unlikely I'll ever return anyways…might as well make a life here'_

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**Author's Notes:** Chapter Fourteen! A bit lighter than the last two chapters, I believe, but I needed to get those conversations out of the way ^^U It's interesting, isn't it? Mana can't stay angry with Harry, Harry can't stay angry with Atem and Atem is keeping secrets ^_-

*This alludes to a scene in my side-story "Where Harry Goes, Chaos Follows", you can read it if you want to (it's kind of funny XD) but it's not really important to the overall story ^-^

Ah, well, on to the voting!

Hawk |||||

Lion |

And now we also have new options! The reason they were suggested are also stated, and my personal notes are inside the brackets []

Thanks to s**ecret-sorrow** for suggesting this one. Cat: Secret-sorrow read somewhere that they are a personification of Ra. They might be useless in battle (unlike the lion) but would be good for sneaking around. Cats were treated as pets and they might let down their guard. Plus, they are good at getting rid of vermin. [I can certainly imagine a kitty-harry sneaking through the Palace, XD] |

**Lappalla** takes credit for suggesting this one, thank you. Stag: His patronus' form [it was also James's own form and seems sort of fitting…like inherited ^_-] |

Thanks to** Erisabeisuu** for this one. Phoenix: They are Fire Birds [and strongly associated with the sun. Plus, if you recall, Ra's form was that of a Phoenix-like creature] ||

This one is from **Dragon Fairies**, thank you. Sand Cat [you can read about them here: http : / en . wikipedia . org/ wiki / Sand_Cat]

Thanks to **SailorNova007** for this one. Griffin: [Also kind of fitting, I mean, both lion and bird…it's kind of having the two first options in one package ^^]

From **berkie88**, thank you. Snake: snakes weren't considered evil then. The asp was actually the symbol of royalty. What kind he should become I don't know as he's obviously not royal (beyond the SaRa thing) [That also seems fitting…I mean, he _is _a Parseltongue, almost Slytherin, not to mention snakes were considered protectors of Egypt and its Pharaoh)

And now, to answer some reviews! ^_^ (I love this part XD)

**Vkaci**: Well, it is a little spoiler-y, but I've been asked this question a whole bunch of times already and I'm starting to think I should just give up ^_- I will just say this: Harry always, always somehow makes a dramatic return… ^_^

**berkie88:** Yup, that was the Magician of Black Chaos getting angry at Seth for making Harry angry ^^U You can read what happened with that little situation in a side-story called "Where Harry Goes, Chaos Follows" ^_^

**Sharingan-Youkai:** Yup, this story is Slash. I'm trying to take things slowly and keep it absolutely non-graphic thoug(I'd certainly have to change the rating for that ^^U)

**Reading4soul:** You're right about the time thing, it's got me kind of pulling my hair in frustration here. I want the whole thing to last a considerable amount of time, integrate Harry fully into Egypt and all, but there's only so much time I can stand to skip…I don't know why, it just…bothers me or something, so that makes things quite…frustrating. Oh, and about Bakura, you can bet he's got Harry on his top of 'to kill' list (as though Harry needed yet another bloodthirsty maniac after him) ^_^

**Smoochynose:** Don't worry, Harry's not going to be turning into his animagus for next chapter or anything, like you said, he doesn't have anyone to teach him or anything…yet. This is going to be used later, but I'm trying to start planning ahead now that the plot is taking shape and I need to know what I'm gonna be working with and, since I like for you guys to be part of the decision-making as well, I started the vote way before Harry is gonna discover his form. ^_^

**Charmedlily:** Well, I certainly recommend all of the stories listed on my Favourites, so you might wanna check that, almost all of them (if not all) include Harry Potter, but if you want another HP/YGO crossover, I strongly recommend "King's Jackal" by _esama_ and "Brothers of the Heart" by _wolfpseaker01_, they're my two favorites ^_^

Thanks to **everyone** who reviewed, your words are very much appreciated and liked! -^_^-

See ya all next chapter! ^_^


	15. Lessons

**Chapter Fifteen**

Lessons

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It was barely the crack of dawn, a decidedly unnatural time for people to be even contemplating awakening, and Harry was already up and about. The young wizard was decidedly not happy with this, especially with how tired he had been all of yesterday and how little sleep he had caught up on, but he wasn't going to protest too much. He had to meet with Isis at her Shrine and didn't want to give the Priestess too much trouble, the lessons she had to give him should be trouble enough already.

Part of Harry really, _really_ didn't want to do this, he had enough to deal with already (learning to use his magic, protecting an Item, adjusting to life in Egypt and trying to find a way to get back to his time). The other part, however, was rather excited at learning something like this, a profession, a job, a way of life. Harry had never given much thought to what he wanted to do for a living once he graduated from Hogwarts (mainly because the odds were against him living to see such a day); sure, he had said he wanted to be an Auror, but that was mostly because he didn't know of many other magical professions and that had sounded at least interesting, not to mention that he had found out about his father having been one. Never in his wildest dreams would he have considered becoming a Priest, much less and Ancient Egyptian one, but there he was.

At least life couldn't possibly get dull now.

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Life was dull. It was an hour into the lesson and Harry's eyelids were dangerously close to dropping. Isis had decided that their lessons would deal with the always-important, ever-boring _manners_. Harry couldn't believe he was being taught manners. How to greet certain people according to their ranks, how to act around them, how to eat when in company, how low to bow to different people, and how low to expect to be bowed to by different people (that part had certainly made him uncomfortable enough to stammer a protest). It wasn't just dull and boring, it was also something Harry had no interest at all in learning.

The Priestess had apparently come to finally realize this as she glanced at the teenager with barely contained amusement. Harry felt just slightly proud of himself for that. It was good to see Isis having just a tiny bit of fun (even if it was at him) after having seen her so depressed and regretful yesterday.

"You are not enjoying my lessons, are you, Harry?" The question seemed to be of the rhetorical kind, but Harry still answered.

"I enjoy your lessons very much, Isis, I just don't enjoy what we study in them" `There, maybe a bit of teenage cheek would lift her mood some more. Harry honestly liked Isis. The woman had this air of serene kindness around her that made it impossible not to like her, and she had been nice to him since his arrival. She wasn't exactly a close friend, not yet, but Harry still liked her enough to hate seeing her as she'd been yesterday and the afternoon before.

His plan seemed to work at least a little, as her lips curved just a few millimeters upwards into an almost-smile. That would have to be victory enough for now. "Then perhaps we should move on to something else. We can go over this again tomorrow"

Harry almost groaned at that. He wasn't the most dedicated of students (Hermione rather constantly reminded him and Ron of this), but the promise of more of this lessons was sure to make things worse. Ah, well, he would worry about that tomorrow. "Alright then"

Isis finally offered an encouraging smile before she launched into the new subject. "Very well. Now, one of your most important duties is probably that of Chief of Security…" Harry was not liking the sound of this, but Isis was apparently oblivious to his growing dread and continued with no interruption "Fortunately for you, this deals mainly with the security of the Tombs and not the Palace and city, that is a duty we all share, so it will hopefully not be too much…" Now Harry certainly didn't like it.

"Wait! What do you mean 'security of the tombs'?" There must have been something, probably his 'deer caught in the headlights' look, that made Isis ignore the fact that she had been rather rudely interrupted and answer him.

"Well, just what it says. There are always those that will try to desecrate the resting place of past kings, sinners looking for a treasure that belong to none of the living, and it is your duty now to see that it doesn't happen"

This was not good. This was decidedly _not_ good. Harry Trouble-Magnet Potter a Chief of Security? This was bad idea wrapped in bad omen. This was not good.

"A-and how am I supposed to do that?" Okay, so he was starting to panic a little now. _'Deep breaths, Harry. Take deep breaths and try not to make a fool of yourself now'_

Isis looked a bit startled at the question, but tried to answer it nonetheless, though her voice expressed less self-assurance than it had before now.

"Ah, well, the exact methods are kept secret, you see, and shared with no one. I do know, however, that they mostly deal with traps and…recently, also magical wards"

Harry had to suppress a wince at the last part. Great, he had gone and reminded her of Mahaad. _'Good job, Harry. You should be given a prize for insensitive prick of the year'_. And hurting Isis's feelings wasn't the only thing that worried him now. _Traps_. Oh, Harry was very, very good with traps…but only at escaping from them. He didn't know the first thing about laying a trap and it sounded like such a…a Slytherin thing to do that he had never been interested in doing so before, which he was regretting now.

The poor magician groaned.

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After with lessons with Isis, which had concluded mid-morning, Harry had gotten a late breakfast and barricaded himself in his room with only a monstrous pile of documents to keep him company. _'And I'd thought Snape's homework was bad'_ Many of the scrolls were about his new job, things he had to look over and whatnot, but a whole other bunch were things he had specifically asked for _'Hermione would be so proud of me right now'_

They were texts that explained rather thoroughly life on Egypt, from things like seasons and harvest to religion and ceremonies, most of it was documented here and ready to be studied.

He started by separating everything into piles, making it easier for him to look for whatever he wanted rather than just dig into the scattered documents hoping to find what he was looking for. He was just about to grab one of the scrolls when there was a knock on the door. He stopped what he was doing and went to answer.

As he opened the door, he was greeted with the sight of a servant half-buried in yet _more_ documents. At Harry's look of disbelief the poor man quickly averted his gaze to the floor and hurried to explain, stuttering every now and then "M-master Seth sends this, Master. He said y-you would need them and…and b-better have re-read them for t-tomorrow"

Harry felt a headache coming, and it had nothing to do with curse scars.

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After a very brief Lunch (Harry hadn't had time for more than that) he had left his rooms and document behind (finally!) and went to meet with Mana. They had agreed to meet in one of the many empty rooms that the Palace had, rooms that no one was using and so were perfect to practice magic without setting fire to something…or someone.

He went into the room and found Mana already dutifully practicing levitating an old piece of wood, probably something she'd found in the abandoned room. "Hey"

His presence had apparently not been noticed before, and his greeting was most certainly unexpected, as Mana jumped about a foot in the air and let out a startled yelp. Harry would have laughed himself silly if it weren't for the fact that the piece of wood was sent sailing in his direction, straight for his head. Cursing his luck and thanking Ra for Seeker reflexes at the same time, Harry quickly threw himself to the floor and dodged the thing.

Commotion having passed and crisis averted, the two young magicians turned to one look at one another, blinked twice, and finally let loose the laughter bubbling inside them. It felt good to, if only for the moment, be the happy and carefree teenagers they were supposed to be, with no duties burdening them and no death saddening them…but such things never stray too far from our thoughts and sooner or later the moment had to end.

When Harry finally got up, having already controlled his laughter, he started to dust his clothes at the same time he shot Mana a slightly indignant look "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" The accusation was mostly playful, and even if it wasn't Mana would probably not care too much.

"I thought I was being ambushed, of course I did it on purpose" And the girl sounded awfully smug for someone who had almost jumped out of her skin and yelped in fright/surprise, but Harry decided to let her have her fun. He didn't fight girls, anyways.

"Okay then, let's start with this"

Mana's smug look was instantly replaced with a most curious combination of seriousness and excitement. Probably something only she could pull off. "Alright! Well, I'm going to start teaching you about Shadow Magic, since you don't know a lot about it and all, but we're not going to practice the really interesting stuff until you can get hang of the little things, got that?"

Harry got it alright, but he didn't like it. He had been taught for years to both fear and hate Dark Magic (And let's not forget that Defense Against the Dark Arts was his favorite subject), and Shadow Magic seemed much too close to this for Harry's comfort, even its name sounded Dark. All in all, Harry did not like this, not one bit.

"Mana…I-I'm not sure if I want to practice Shadow Magic" At the girl's questioning look Harry scrambled to find an explanation that wouldn't somehow offend her and her practices. Mana knew Shadow Magic and practiced it sometimes, just as Mahaad had, just like all the other item Bearers did, and Harry did not want to offend them, even if he disliked their magic.

"Ah, it's just…It clashes with my own. Yeah, that's it. When I first came and the Court used the Items on me, that was Shadow Magic, right?" He didn't pause to wait for a confirmation, they both knew that the Items worked on Shadow Magic "It clashed with my magic then. I don't think the two are very compatible" There, a good and logical explanation that mentioned nothing about personal dislike and couldn't possibly be considered offensive. His relief was short-live, however, once he noticed Mana's disbelieving look.

"Harry…" She said carefully, as though not sure where to start "you…you do remember what happened in the Temple, right?" And now he understood her reluctance to speak. Great, what was it with him that he somehow managed to remind everyone of painful memories, even when he said nothing about then? Not wanting to risk making it worse by opening his mouth, he merely answered with a nod of affirmative. _'As though I could ever forget'_

Her response was another disbelieving (and now also slightly exasperated) look, before she sighed and decided to take pity on the confused boy. "You remember what you did? How we got out?" for a moment, Harry thought she was talking about how he'd dragged them both out of there and was about to yell at him for it once again, before she continued "…how you summoned your Ka?"

At that, Harry almost flinched. _'You have to remind me?'_ He was glad of course that he had managed to summon his Ka when he did, that had probably saved his life and that of his friends, but he was still getting used to the idea of having something so…intimidating as Soul-Creature and didn't want to be reminded of it until he'd had time to come to terms with it. Again, he just nodded.

"That's Shadow Magic, Harry"

The wizard suddenly wanted to bang his head against some wall.

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After that lesson had ended and Harry had found out much more about Shadow Magic that he had ever wanted to know (although he would have to admit some of it was very interesting), he had gone back to his room, but had been forced to escape soon after when the same servant from before kept bringing more and more work for him (he was sure Seth was just messing with him) and had instead escaped to the gardens.

He had managed to find the same spot from before to lie down and rest under the tree's cool shade, closing his eyes and just enjoying the moment. The day had been exhausting to say the least, with lessons and studies and more lessons, but he was finally free to enjoy the rest of it and practice a bit of laziness. He couldn't remember having ever studied so much in his life, not even when he was having his O.W.L.s, and even though he was very tired, he felt awfully proud of himself for it. He had decided that if he was going to do this, then he was going to do it right and make his new teachers proud of him, especially the one that was no longer here.

"I won't let you down, Mahaad. I promise" The words were spoken with such certainty that not even Draco Malfoy would have dared to argue them.

Fortunately, it wasn't Malfoy who heard them. "I think he is very proud of you. I know I am" Harry could have recognized that voice anywhere by now, and didn't even open his eyes to look at the intruder, but did offer a mock scowl.

"You'd better be, this is still all your fault, Atem"

The Pharaoh had the grace to look a bit contrite by the time Harry had finally opened his eyes and sat up. "I thought you had forgiven me for that already" And indeed Harry had, but just because he forgave people it didn't mean he forgot their offenses (indeed he still remembered the fight between Ron and himself even if he'd long since forgiven the redhead) and it was quite fun to mess with Atem…probably the sense of triumph Harry got out of making the most powerful man on Egypt uncomfortable.

"I did. But it is still your fault" Harry closed his eyes once again and leant against the rough bark of the tree, just like yesterday. This place was starting to become one of his favorite spots and he was already making plans to escape here again tomorrow, confident that Atem wouldn't go rat him and his hiding place out. "What are you doing here, by the way? I thought you would be very busy still"

Harry didn't react when he felt the Pharaoh take a seat right next to him, and refused to scoot over to give the man more space under the diminishing shade even after he was nudged with an elbow. Atem finally gave up and sat only halfway in the tree shade, apparently already used to Harry's stubbornness.

"I was but, as I am sure you understand…" There was just the slightest hint of knowing accusation in the sentence, which only served to amuse Harry "…I decided I needed a short rest and…made myself temporarily unavailable"

Harry snorted at that, clearly amused "You mean you came here to hide, Highness" The title was spoken with playful teasing instead of the scorn from yesterday, and Atem didn't seem to mind it quite as much this way. The Pharaoh gave an annoyed grumble as answer, which of course only meant that Harry was correct.

The two stayed like that for a few minutes, content to sit in silence and enjoy the peace, before Atem broke the silence. "Well, there was also another reason…" The Pharaoh's admission almost made Harry groan his annoyance. He had enough of listening to the man's r_easons_ yesterday and didn't want to start an argument with his friend again, but was willing to humor him…if only just a little "Oh?"

"I noticed you never carry any weapons with you, not even back when you could not use your magic at all" Harry almost blushed at that, embarrassed. The truth was that he didn't know how to use any sort of weapon that wasn't a wand. The only sort of weapon he'd ever even touched was Gryffindor's sword and he didn't think brandishing the thing until it hit something, as he had done back in second year, really counted as knowing how to use it. Knowledge of weapons wasn't really necessary back in Harry's time, but here, it was almost as common as breathing, and not having any made Harry s little ashamed.

"Wouldn't do me any good anyways" He admitted, and this time it was his turn to grumble. Atem looked at him for a moment of two, Harry could _feel_ the man's amethyst eyes on him, before speaking again, sounding as though he was trying very hard to contain his amusement…which didn't help Harry's mood at all. "You don't know how to use one, do you?"

Harry's blush was all the answer he needed. "Well it's not like I needed that kind of stuff, back where I come from" It was a rather weak excuse and Harry knew it, but it was better than nothing. Those words seemed to make Atem very curious, but at least he wasn't teasing anymore. "Why? Were you a Prince as well?" Harry sputtered at that, having abandoned his comfortable position leaning against the tree and was looking at Atem in confusion and disbelief. Where the hell had _that_ come from? Harry had been called many things before (Boy-Who-Lived, Golden Gryffindor, Scarhead, Pathological Liar, and Attention Seeker amongst others) but never 'Prince'. Although, he had to admit it would probably make sense to Atem, who didn't know anything about Harry's past. The Pharaoh probably thought that the only reason someone wouldn't need how to use a weapon is if they don't need to protect themselves and that would only be possible if you had others to protect you instead and to have that, you had to be the important sort of person, like royalty. The logic was a bit bizarre, but it did make some sort of sense.

Atem, who looked like he was about to break into laughter at Harry's befuddled expression, decided to say something before his friend, who was by now doing a rather good impersonation of an asphyxiating fish, started hyperventilating. "Never mind, you don't have to tell me. Still, it is dangerous for any one not to know how to wield at least one weapon so we shall have to do something about that" He seemed to think for a second before his eyes brightened, an idea coming to his mind. "I shall teach you. Come along now, my friend, you are going to learn how to fight"

Harry stared in bewilderment at his friend's back as the man walked away, confident that the magician would follow him sooner or later. Great, _more_ lessons.

Harry groaned, got up and followed.

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**Author's Notes:** Chapter Fifteen already! Wow, it's sure going fast, isn't it? ^_^ This might not seem like such an important chapter, but I wanted to show how Harry is starting to grow and learn new things and the like, so it seemed important for me to write…plus, it's always fun to make Harry a little miserable ^^U

Ah, well, on to the voting!

Hawk |||||||||

Lion ||

Cat ||

Phoenix ||||||

Sand Cat |

Griffin |

Snake |

And now we also have new options! The reason they were suggested are also stated, and my personal notes are inside the brackets []

**Saeadame** suggested this one, thank you ^_^ African Wildcat: (ancestor of the domestic cat, slightly larger and more solid than a domestic cat and with set colouring). The wikipedia picture isn't that good, but they are really cute, still small enough to sneak in to places (they can actually squeeze into surprisingly small spaces for their size), but more dangerous than a domestic cat. Apparently, the Sand Cat is a subspecies of it. [here's a couple of good pictures I found : http : / evercats . com / wp-content / uploads / 2009 / 09 / ktp_awc . JPG and http: / wysinger . homestead . com / wildcat2 . jpg]

Thanks to **Magician Girl Mirani **for this two. Sable: it's basically like a combination of a black panther or lion and an eagle cuz it's got the body of a panther or lion but it also has the wings of an eagle. It's usually all black which is perfect for Harry cuz of his hair. I've come accross one or two stories with sables in them but not that many. I think it'd be good cuz it has the cat element for Ra and Egypt but also the eagle element which is also important. The wings can be adapted to look like those of a hawk. [Perfect for those of you who can't decide between cat and hawk ^_^]

Obsidian or ivory basilisk: Snakes are important in ancient egypt, even if they aren't directly associated with Ra. [Fitting if you consider his parseltongue ability and pleasantly ironic if you consider his second year ^_-]

And now, to answer some reviews! ^_^

**Heaven's Archer:** Don't worry, Harry's made to work under pressure, he'll figure some way to cope with all his new responsibilities, he always does. And about the forgiveness, well, Harry's always seemed like a very forgiving person to me (I mean, Ron after the whole Tournament fiasco, Dumbledore after OOTP and even Snape after…well, everything) but I'm really sorry if I took him OOC, I'll try to keep it in mind, thank you ^_^

**Sharingan-Youkai:** Oh yeah, I've read those *giggles insanely* You're right, though, I've also found a startling lack of Harry/Atem stories. Hope you're enjoying this one ^_^

**DarkLadyIreth:** Thanks ^_^ I've been threatened with the poking-of-doom myself several times, it's rather frightening when you're on the receiving side but ridiculously funny when you're the spectator XD

**DeathNoteMaker:** Completely understand you with the suffering Harry, lol, I'm the one making him suffer in this story after all *evil cackle* I'm also with you on the bird thing...after I watched that movie, crows were creepy to me for at least a week and I normally like them ^_^U

**The elusive shadow:** Thank you ^-^ I want those two's feelings to grow slowly and all, you know, make the relationship progress at a certain pace and keep things real (or as real as a wizard time-traveling to ancient Egypt and falling in love with a Pharaoh can be ^_^U)

**Fates Illusion and Yana5**: Thank you both for the reviews. And about Harry going back to the future…well, I can't just say and spoil the surprise now, can I? ^_-

**Magician Girl Mirani:** Oh I can already picture Seth's face if such a prank was to happen…well, I can picture his face after being turned back to normal (in snake form he would probably just hiss threateningly at anyone and anything XD)….excuse me for a second, I got a severe case of the giggles ^_^

Thanks to **everyone** who reviewed, your words are very much appreciated and liked! -^_^-

See ya all next chapter! ^_^


	16. Snakes, Traps and Shadows

**Chapter Sixteen**

Snakes, Traps and Shadows

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

_~Parseltongue~_

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One whole week after he had started his new lessons, Harry was already growing used to the new routine. His knowledge and understanding grew almost alarmingly fast, even though he still struggled with some things that had to be explained more than once to him (hey, he was a determined student, but not a genius either). He has also started to design the new security measures that had to be implemented in the former Pharaoh's tomb. The tomb had been pilfered just shortly before Harry arrived in Egypt and most of its traps had been disabled then so it was pretty vulnerable right now. Mahaad had supposedly gone to put up some wards, but this had apparently been an excuse to lay the trap for the Thief King and, considering how that had ended, the magician hadn't had the chance to do anything about it and now it was Harry's responsibility.

Isis had said that the secrets of the protections to those tombs were meant to be kept and never shared, but Harry didn't know much about planning for protections and had to discuss it with someone. The best option was of course Atem, since there was no way the Pharaoh would put his father's tomb in danger by telling the secrets, so he had gone to him. Atem had helped him with a couple of designs and ideas and, although it still required a lot of work, they were making progress. Although, Harry had to admit he was very much uncomfortable in the beginning, because all of the traps were decidedly lethal, at least until Atem explained how he had felt when his father's grave had been desecrated and asked Harry how he would have felt in his place. The young wizard had never visited his parents' graves, didn't even know if they had any, but he knew he would want revenge on anyone who dared steal from them. And anyways, any Tomb Robber who even dared to try already knew they were risking their lives, and if they didn't care then why should he? It was a decidedly dark way to look at life, but Harry had seen and done way too much to keep the childish innocence that would have stopped him. He really wasn't a child anymore.

Atem had helped a bit with that too, because Harry had felt terribly guilty over not feeling guilty. This happened when he realized that the world wasn't sunshine and rainbows and that Dumbledore wouldn't always magically appear to save the day and offer lemon drops, that people died every day, every minute and sometimes those deaths were necessary. That helped him not feel bad for whatever Tomb Robber got caught in his traps, but then he'd been horrified to realize this, realize that he didn't feel guilty over people dying because of something he had designed. It was all very confusing and Harry had felt disgusted with himself for days. Then Atem had come and asked Harry if he thought the Pharaoh was a bad person, Harry had of course answered that no, he wasn't, Atem was good and nice; then the young King had proceeded to explain that he was responsible for many deaths and would probably be for many more, people who were punished with death, people who were killed in war, soldiers who died in battle, those all rested on his conscience but he still moved on because it was necessary, because it was for the best for Egypt, for his people.

Harry had understood then, it hadn't been easy or pleasant but he had understood, that everyone dies in the end and sometimes people die early for a reason, a cause, and even if it was his fault, he couldn't just stop living because of the dead. It was a more mature, if quite unhappy, Harry that came out of that particular lesson. He didn't like it, but he accepted it. It was also then that he understood that he could go to Atem when in doubt and his friend would do his very best to help him understand. Harry was grateful for that.

This is why, when he'd had a sudden lapse of brilliance, he had immediately left his chambers and gone to look for his friend. It had taken him at least ten minutes to reach the Pharaoh's rooms, but Atem was fortunately free for the moment and so Harry's suddenly bursting into the King's rooms hadn't embarrassed anyone (especially Harry). "I've got it! An idea for what we can use those interconnecting little tunnels in the tomb. Remember how I said that maybe we could use water to drown intruders and then you said no because it could damage some of the things inside it and I asked if you had a better idea and you said you didn't so we couldn't do anything with them?" Harry was babbling and he knew it, but was much too excited to care. He paused only for a moment, until Atem had (looking certainly amused) nodded his affirmative "Well I solved the problem" Harry was trying not to look too proud of himself (please note the 'trying') as he explained his brilliant solution "Snakes"

It had taken Harry sometime to finally remember that snakes were often used as guardians in tombs. In fact, they were so common it could almost be considered cliché. It was probably for that reason that Atem turned to look at his with a raised eyebrow and look of disbelief "Snakes?"

Harry looked away in slight embarrassment at that. Okay, so perhaps snakes weren't such a brilliant idea to most people but then, most people couldn't talk to them. "Well, yeah…I mean I could ask them to…" but Harry didn't get to even half of his explanation before Atem had already interrupted, looking even more incredulous and maybe even a little worried for his friend's sanity (Harry had been under a lot of stress lately, after all, and might have snapped or something). "Ask them...?"

The young wizard felt his face flush at that. Atem probably thought him crazy and delusional by now (hey, he could join the club back home) and all because Harry was reluctant to tell him one of his many secrets. He didn't understand this reluctance, since snakes were fortunately not seen the same way in Egypt, where they were noble guardians, as they were in England, were they were slimy and creepy and represented death. Then again, just because the Egyptians liked snaked didn't mean that they liked people who talked to them. Harry sighed, the excitement having left him already.

"It's probably best if I show you…it's kind of hard to explain" It wasn't, really, all he had to do was say 'I can talk to and understand snakes' but no one was likely to believe him unless he could prove it and he didn't want his friend to think he was lying or worse (like crazy) so he would show him instead. "Is there some way I can get a snake?"

Atem still didn't look convinced, but answered anyways. "Yes. There is a snake breeder in the city, he sales them to merchants and nobles who also want them for their tombs. I could have him brought to the Palace if you want, but are you sure of this?"

Harry was slightly annoyed at having his abilities doubted, even if it was perfectly understandable of the Pharaoh to do so and his answer was perhaps a bit defensive "Yes I'm sure of it. You just get me a snake and I'll show you what I can do with it"

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And so, barely half an hour later, the snake breeder had presented himself in the Palace (after all, if the Pharaoh sends for you, you don't waste one second of time) and had been led to the throne room, since it was expressively forbidden for most people to even _see_ the Pharaoh's room, which was otherwise only occupied by Atem and Harry. The man had brought with him a wooden crate which he had placed away from both Pharaoh and Priest but still close enough for them to see its contents once it was opened. "Sometimes they can slip out" was the explanation for keeping the thing away.

When the man finally opened it, Harry was able to see that it was divided inside into two compartments and had another lid made of interwoven little branches, almost like a basket. One contained five rather impressive-looking snakes, mostly dark grey but with black heads. The other compartment contained a similar-looking snake though this one was brown and just slightly larger than its black counterparts. They were all cobras, and none of them looked happy sharing such close quarters. In fact, the five black ones were pretty much trying to kill one another by now. The man flushed when he saw this and attempted to separate them using a long and slim wooden cane that he slipped between the bars.

Harry saw this and raised a hand for the man to stop (still being somewhat amazed that he was obeyed without questions when he did this) and turned to see Atem still watching curiously, but the worry he had been able to see in his eyes had certainly increased by now. "Harry?"

Oh yeah, he was worried. Harry could understand that, he would probably react the same way if a fried he suspected might be slightly delusional suddenly approached a crate of angry cobras. Atem had already gotten up from his throne and was in the process of trying to reach Harry and stop him when the young wizard decided that it was time to prove he wasn't touched in the head.

_~Stop!~_ And they did. The snakes instantly stopped fighting one another, raising their head attentively as they murmured to one another about the 'speaker'. Atem stopped mid-step at the sound of the hiss and the reaction it had on the animals and the snakes' owner froze in place (the poor mad had been fidgeting nervously with his cane).

Harry ignored the other people in the room and focused on the snakes, still having a bit of trouble telling the difference between speaking parseltongue and human language and not wanting to risk a misunderstanding with some cobras. He looked at the five black ones all caged together and decided they would be much harder to manage in a bunch and instead turned to address the brown one. _~If you promise not to bite me, I'll get you out of there~_ The snake seemed to think about it for less than a second before answering _~I will not have to keep lisssstening to their argumentssss, will I?~_ She (Harry had realized it was a female by now) turned to look at the rather indignant-looking black snakes (Harry was kind of surprised a snake could look indignant). The young wizard snorted in amusement at that, which probably didn't help with the others' tempers and agreed to keep her away from its argumentative companions. _~Very well then, little Master, get me out~ _For a creature that called him 'Master', it was rather bossy.

The magician lifted the second lid only on the brown cobra's side, being careful not to let the other ones out _~And you five should stop fighting, you're probably going to be together for a while~_ The snakes had the decency to look ashamed at that and quickly lowered their heads, looking like they were going to sleep or something. Harry lifted the brown cobra and let her coil herself around his arm before turning back to the shocked Pharaoh

"Told you I could ask something of them"

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When the snake breeder had finally left, one crate of snakes lighter and looking like he had seen a ghost, Harry's nerves started to make themselves known. He hated the reactions he usually got when people found out about the parseltongue and, even if the Egyptians liked snakes a whole lot more than his countrymen, he still couldn't help but be unsure.

"So…um, I'm not going to be put to death or something, am I? It's not really my fault, I mean, It's just something…something I can do" He was stroking the brown cobra's head softly, trying to calm himself with it.

Atem's sudden chuckle put his fears to rest. He didn't think his friend would laugh if he was indeed in trouble, so he was pretty sure he was safe. "No, Harry, you won't be…put to death" he chuckled again at that, and mumbled something about dramatic magicians that Harry was glad he didn't hear, or he would have had to defend his honor and probably make a fool of himself.

"You are indeed something, my friend. Chosen by Ra and blessed by Wadjet. I am beginning to think there is nothing you can't do" Harry blushed and mumbled something about overreacting Pharaohs that Atem either didn't hear or chose to ignore. It was good to have at least that secret out.

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Two days after the little scene with the cobras Harry got Atem's approval to go to the tomb and put his plan to work. Normally Harry just designed the traps and it was builders and workers who went to the place and actually made them, but this was something that only the wizard could do.

He had left before dawn (as it was better to travel before the sun got too hot) in the company of a small group of soldiers and with five snakes in a crate and another (who sounded decidedly smug whenever she talked to the others) wrapped around his arm. They had all decided to be cooperative when Harry had promised he would let them out of the crate and give them a very important job that only they could possibly perform. Apparently flattery will get you everywhere with snakes.

They thankfully reached the Valley of Kings before the sun reached its zenith. Harry was the only one to go into the tomb (with the snakes, of course), while the soldiers stayed outside to guard the place and stop anyone else from going in while Harry worked. A distraction could be deadly while inside this kind of place.

It was cool inside the tomb, but not cold enough that it would be uncomfortable for the snakes (Harry didn't think there was _any_ place cold in all of Egypt) and once they were far enough inside, the magician released the now rather happy snakes. They were tasting the air around them with their tongue and murmuring to one another while the one in his arm sniffed disdainfully at them. Harry was beginning to think that being picked out of the crate before the others was starting to get to her head, but found it much too amusing to stop it.

_~Alright then, listen very carefully. This is a very, very important place we're in and no one is supposed to come inside once it's closed. There's great treasure here, you see, and someone has to protect it~_ All six cobras were hanging on to his every word by now, apparently very interested in the story. _~That's where you all come in. Since you are all very smart and very strong, I thought that you would be the very best for the job~_ The snakes seemed to agree rather happily, swinging their heads from one side to the other in some sort of dance some might have thought threatening, Harry just found it amusing. _~There's this little tunnels all through the place, connecting it all, and you can use those to travel through the different rooms and surprise intruders. If you see someone who shouldn't be here, you can attack them~_ That last part seemed to put them into an even better mood. Harry thought this was because he had forbidden them from biting anyone while outside, no matter how annoyed they got. _~The tunnels were used for ventilation during the construction of this place, so I know they lead outside as well, and you can use those exits to go and hunt if there's no prey here, so you won't have to go hungry~_ It was decidedly strange (and very much disturbing for part of Harry) that he was worrying about the lives of five snakes just after he'd given them permission to attack and possible kill people, but the young wizard quickly shoved the growing wisp of regret away, focused on his task.

He was busy pointing out the tunnels and explaining the rules to the snakes (not to mention giving the pleased and smug reptiles compliments every thirty seconds) that he didn't notice the soldier coming in until it was too late. The reason why only certain people were allowed into the tomb wasn't just because of whether they were trustworthy or not, it had to do with security for the people making repairs and improvements inside. Most of the traps had indeed been disabled, but there were still some that the Thief had either missed or not cared about and someone stumbling into the tomb without any knowledge of what places and signs to watch out for was considered too big of a risk. This proved correct when the soldier accidentally activated one of the traps. The sound of stone sliding on stone was their only warning before it happened.

A wall of stone suddenly dropped from the ceiling, diving the corridor in two and separating Harry from the soldier as well as from the exit and as though that wasn't enough the whole block of ceiling on Harry's side simply got loose and started to fall, threatening to squash the magician and the snakes. There was no time to do anything, no place to run to and no possible way out of this one. Harry closed his eyes and awaited the death blow.

It didn't come. The young wizard felt his magic levels drop slightly and, coupled with the fact that he was not Harry pancake by now, concluded that his accidental magic had (once again) saved his life. With how many times in his life he had come close to dying only to be saved in the last second, the whole thing was almost starting to lose its thrill. Harry sighed and was just calming his erratic heartbeat when a completely unfamiliar voice echoed in the small room.

"Maybe you should get out of here"

The words were spoken with just a tiny bit of sarcasm, but Harry hardly even noticed that. When he'd turned to look for the source of the voice, he met with a decidedly unexpected sight. Standing there, as though it was the most normal thing in the world and looking rather aloof, was his Ka. The Soul-Creature had lifted his staff and a crimson and ebony glow (Harry wondered how any glow could be black) was surrounding both the sphere in staff and the slab of stone that had just moments ago been about to fall on their heads.

Harry's green eyes met with the Magician's red-on-yellow, both gazed locked, judging each other, trying to understand each other. It was only at that moment that Harry finally felt the connection with his Ka, the bond that made them be part of one another. Soul and Mortal. Shadow Creature and Human. The differences didn't matter, the appearances didn't matter, his apprehension didn't matter. They were still together in this, they were still one and the same. This was part of his very soul, and it didn't matter if he still looked frightening and dark or if he was sarcastic or even if he didn't entirely like him, he was still part of Harry and that had to count for something.

"You know, this is second time I save you from being crushed to death. I am not complaining, since you are still alive and so I am still alive, but it would be nice if you could get out of here so I can let go of this thing, I am getting tired"

And that was enough to break the moment of epiphanies and realizations. Harry felt the slightest hint of annoyance at hearing yet more sarcasm-laced words, but was much too grateful to get angry right now. "There's a way to deactivate the trap, I just need to find the right place" And Harry quickly moved to do just that. The Soul-Creature didn't say anything, but then, Harry wasn't really expecting him to. What were you supposed to talk about with your Ka, the weather? Still, Harry didn't like long and awkward silences, they were even more distracting than noise and he needed to focus in order to find the secret spot that deactivated the blasted trap.

After just another minute of the silence, he really couldn't stand it anymore. "You have been following me for days, haven't you?" He didn't meant to say it, really didn't mean to, he had just blurted out the first thing that came to mind. Not that it was entirely untrue either. He had noticed a shadow that moved strangely and appeared and disappeared almost randomly, and he had noticed that the shadow followed him. It had started more than a week ago, during the Court meeting just after Mahaad's death, and Harry had chalked it up to being tired and stressed from the whole thing. Problem was that it had kept happening, time after time and day after day. He'd thought then that perhaps it was something sent to hurt him, as there were certainly people who were not happy with Harry's new position as Priest, but when the days had gone by and not a scratch was found on him, he finally decided to let it be and determined that it was just more of the weirdness that followed Harry Potter.

But now that he thought about it, now that he had his Ka standing right in front of him, it sort of made sense. He had first noticed his stalker the very morning after he'd first summoned the Soul-Creature, it never hurt him and in fact seemed to sort of watch over him (which Harry found just a little bit creepy) and he had never actually seen the Magician leave after he'd summoned him that night. It made sense.

"Ah, you are an observant little human, are you not, summoner? Yes. That was me following you all this time" The Magician admitted easily, sounding not at all concerned.

Harry made a vague sound of annoyance, not really appreciating being called a 'little human' (he couldn't help it if he was short for his age!), but didn't look away from his search, he really wanted to get out of here. "Why?"

"My existence currently depends on yours and you obviously are unable to look after yourself, as proved by the current situation, so someone has to do it for you" The Soul-Creature had not even hesitated before admitting this, nor did he sound the slightest bit sorry about insulting Harry's abilities to keep himself alive.

After that, the young wizard decided it was best to ignore his Ka for the moment, along with the confused hissing from a slightly startled group of snakes. He was forced to stop the brown one from trying to bite the Soul-Creature, though, but after that it was straight back to work. Five minutes after the trap had first fallen and with his magic reserves feeling quite emptier, Harry finally pushed the right brick, it sunk into the wall and the stone separating them from the exit suddenly sunk into the floor. He would have to get the blasted trap set again after this, but only once he was far away and back into the Palace.

The soldier on the other side was fortunately alive, since the trap was designed to target the leader of a group by the mistakes of followers (since the leader was usually the one with most knowledge of how to avert traps and therefore, the ones walking in after him the most vulnerable) so Harry had been the main target. The poor man had brought his companions into the tomb and they had apparently been trying to lift the wall keeping Harry trapped. It was quite a surprise for them when the wall suddenly sunk into the ground and they were greeted with the sight of a wizard, a Soul-Creature and six snakes. Harry could swear his Ka smirked when one of the soldiers gave a tiny little whimper, but didn't comment.

"Err…we should probably get out of here" The words his Ka had used just a little while ago and repeated by Harry now seemed to break everyone from their thoughts (and send the snakes back to confused hissing) and into doing just that. The young wizard noticed it when his soul-Creature started to fade, once they were back outside and under the sun, but he could still make out the slightest of silhouettes floating after him. Again, it was a bit creepy.

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**Author's Notes:** This is one weird but fun chapter! XD I know Harry starts to like suddenly change and all, but I assure you that's going to be explained next chapter…he's not going evil or anything, though, in case someone was wondering ^^U Ah, I'm starting to fall in love with Magician of Black Chaos…that's too long a name, though, so he needs a new one and that's also part of next chapter so stay tuned if you wanna find out what it is! ^_-

Ah, and about the snakes, they're all spitting cobras. The black ones are Black-Necked Spitting Cobras and the brown one is a Giant Spitting Cobra, they're very similar and were in fact thought to be the same species until 2007. They're both potentially lethal too. Lovely, aren't they? ^_^

And now, on to the voting!'

Alright, there's been a little change. There's indeed too many options in what can be considered only one category, so they're being grouped together now. If you like one of the options inside a group, vote for the group and then, if the group wins the vote, we'll decide which of the options. Thanks to **JuMiKu** for the idea ^_^

Hawk |||||||||||

Big cat [includes lion, griffin and sable] ||||

Small cat [includes housecat, sand cat and African wild cat] |||||||

Phoenix |||||||||||

Snake [includes obsidian, ivory basilisk and regular snakes] ||

And now, to answer some reviews! ^_^

**Heaven's Archer:** Ah, I can understand the angsty Harry thing… I love him too XD It just sort of…fits Harry, you know? I mean, he is almost the textbook definition of a tragic hero, he needs angst ^_^U

**Sin Piedad:** Thank you ^_^ Harry is just like that, I guess, when he puts his mind to something he gets this bizarrely stubborn determination of his to work…I think that's how he deals with every task that life (and me) throws at him ^^

**Sharingan-Youkai:** Oooooo….Interesting idea (I think I might drool here ^_-) Ah, Atem's eyes (or rather Yami's) _are _red…in the manga and first series (and most stories here) but since I never had the chance to see those I decided instead to base this entirely on the series I did see, plus it sorts of saves Harry from freaking out (I think he's had enough of red-eyed people) XD

**berkie88:** About Harry not knowing Shadow Magic…Well, his first real experience with it was having his magic bound by the Items, so he kind of really, really doesn't like it and then when he started magic lessons with Mahaad he was still too much of a beginner to practice something as dangerous as that. He did know about summoning Ka's, and he did know that Shadow Magic existed, he just hadn't connected the two ^_^U Side response(XD): Oh, that he is, that he is. It's not his fault that Seth is so much fun to torture, though, that is entirely _my _ sadism ^_-

**JuMiKu:** Well, maybe not _everyone_, but I guess most would at least know a little in case they had to protect themselves or their families…plus, Harry has almost only had contact with the Priests, the Guards, a Magician and a Pharaoh, and they all know how to fight in one way or another ^_^U

**Mistress Sayu and Yana5:** Bringing Sirius in is a really interesting idea, might've worked very well too…but it's sort of…err, not fitting with the 'sketch' I'm starting to make for the story. Still, it's great idea and thank you for suggesting it -^_^-

**Magician Girl Mirani:** You kidding?...It's more evil than Zorc _and _Voldemort put together! That's why I gave it to Harry XD Thankies for the review ^_^

**Anarane Sindanarie:** Thank you ^^. Lol, there's a lot of those, aren't there? Some are really good, though ^_^

**DarkLadyIreth:** I think he shocked Atem quite a bit on this chapter XD …I should have put Seth in too, though, that's one good idea ^_-

Thanks to **everyone** who reviewed, your words are very much appreciated and liked! -^_^-

See ya all next chapter! ^_^


	17. Know Thyself

**Chapter Seventeen**

Know Thyself

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It had taken Harry about ten minutes o continued arguing, bargaining, complimenting and complaining to finally come to some sort of agreement with six very smart and decidedly cunning (now he understood just why they were Slytherin's mascot) cobras. They hadn't much liked it when he had forbidden them from attacking anyone until the tomb was once again sealed, since it really wouldn't do for them to start killing builders or guards, but then the magician had mentioned how they would probably be sent back to their crate if they couldn't do their job and he'd have to get more snakes. They ended up swearing eternal loyalty after that and a promise to visit them sometime. After that little problem had been solved and Harry was ready to leave the tomb and not come back until it was to be sealed again, a whole new argument started. Apparently, the brown cobra seriously disliked her companion (in fact, it seemed pretty much mutual) and didn't want to stay with them. Harry, already halfway to his wit's end, had tried everything from sweet talking to blackmail and bribery, only to end up having the blasted snake remind him that he'd given his word that she wouldn't have to stand the other five's arguments anymore and now he was trying to break that agreement.

If there was one accusation Harry would really, really not stand for it was liar. He had enough of that back home anyways, and he truly valued the worth of a promise, since his word was one of the few things that were truly really his. In the end, he'd lost the argument (to a snake, by Ra!) and had somehow been convinced that taking her with him was a brilliant idea. Harry decided that this particular snake would probably be reborn into a lawyer sometime in the future, one of those really good, really expensive ones that can talk you into believing the sun is green.

_~You're very pleased with yourself, aren't you?~_ He turned to watch the snake now loosely hanging around his neck (she had claimed the spot as soon as Harry had gotten on his horse and had yet to move).

_~Yesssss~ _ The reptile was practically oozing smugness by now. Harry was half-convinced she was smirking.

_~Now I know why not everyone speaks to snakes. You're a menace~_ The cobra didn't seem to take offence in this, for which Harry was glad since he still wasn't confident she wouldn't bite him if the fancy hit her.

_~Yesssss~ _She sounded oddly pleased for someone who had just been called a menace. Harry, however, was much too busy wondering how he would explain to Atem that he'd been thoroughly defeated by a snake in an argument without having the Pharaoh laugh at him, so he had gone back to ignoring her, along with the barely-there figure still floating somewhere around. It was probably better for his sanity that way.

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The party had been forced to take refuge of the sun during noon and so it was until late afternoon that Harry finally made it back to the Palace. He had thankfully cancelled all his lessons of the day and was therefore free to go and lock himself in his room for the rest of the day. He had some serious things to discuss with a certain Soul-Creature that would not wait any longer. He had so much he wanted to ask the Ka, so many questions and doubts that plagued Harry's mind. He was confused, and he did not like being confused.

As soon as the door to his room had been closed, Harry turned to the barely discernible shape of his summoned Ka, emerald meeting crimson for the second time that day. The Shadow Creature looked almost surprised for a second, before his expression went back to that of almost arrogant confidence laced with amusement.

"Finally able to see me, summoner?"

It was a perfectly innocent question, and Harry would not have minded it at all had it not been for the rather obvious faked surprise in his Ka's voice, clearly stating his disbelief that the magician could do even that much. Harry took a moment to wonder why, oh why, out of all the possible Soul-Creatures out there, he'd gotten stuck with this one.

"Yes. Wasn't I supposed to?"

Harry's question, in turn, was challenging. He did not appreciate his own ka making fun of him and was going to make that known. The creature didn't answer, merely looked away from his summoner, disinterested. That probably didn't help Harry's growing annoyance at all. The young wizard looked like he was about to start growling any minute now.

"And speaking of thing we're not supposed to do…I thought a Ka was supposed to disappear once it was no longer needed" Emerald eyes watched suspiciously as the Ka in question stiffened for just the slightest fraction of a second, before going back to bored nonchalance. Bugger was hiding something.

"I did disappear, if you recall, summoner" The other's red and yellow eyes refused to meet his, gazing instead at the ceiling in a decidedly bored manner. Harry snorted at the Soul-Creature's answer and actions, they were practically screaming 'guilty!'

"Not for long, you didn't. You came back, again and again all through the week" The Ka had turned around completely by now, apparently examining the room Harry knew he had been in plenty of times before. "In fact, I don't think you ever left" This last accusation seemed enough to break the Ka's cool mask, as he turned towards his summoner with just slightly wide eyes and an expression that was almost…angry. Strange, since Harry, although he didn't know as much about Ka as the other Priests, was sure they didn't get angry with their own summoners.

"Well, you didn't send me away either, mortal" Harry felt very tempted to raise an eyebrow at that, but refrained. The Creature was stalling, speaking half-truths, and they both knew it too. The wizard wondered what could possibly make someone as infuriatingly self-assured as his Ka stall like this. He wasn't really sure he wanted to find out.

"Didn't send you away? I didn't even have time to look at you before you'd already vanished into thin air!" Tempers were rising, and considering they both seemed to have the same short fuse, this wasn't good at all. "You deliberately hid so I couldn't dismiss you, didn't you?" The other's eyes looked like hot embers by now, anger and something else glinting clearly even in the semi-transparent figure "And you stayed around when you knew you were supposed to go back to wherever you came from, didn't you?" Green and red clashing with the same intensity as the similarly-colored curses that night in the graveyard, neither yielding, neither winning. "Why? It wasn't because you wanted to look after me, was it? Why, then?"

It all happened almost too fast for Harry to follow. The Ka flew away from his spot on the other side of the room, leaping towards him at a great speed; he felt a small shock go through his magic and a little piece of it be drained, as though he'd cast a spell when he was certain he hadn't; the Soul-Creature lost his see-through appearance and became frighteningly solid, standing right in front of his mortal part; Harry's hand had lifted almost of its own accord, pointing towards the Magician that was part of his soul and ready to fire a spell he wasn't even sure he could control; the rather impressive-looking staff the Ka carried around was pointing at his own summoner's chest. Stalemate.

"I will not go back there, human! I refuse! You failed to dismiss me when you had the chance and that was your mistake. I know you do not want me here, I know you do not even like me, but we are permanently stuck with one another now. I will _not_ go back to the Shadows"

Harry's mouth had already opened, ready to yell back and continue an argument that could be literally called self-destructive, but didn't. The word 'Shadows' made him pause for a moment, and that moment was more than enough for his mind to flash back to the apparent eternity he had spent in Darkness and Emptiness. He hated that place, hated it with all that he had, and he also feared it almost above anything else. The thought of going back there was enough to give him nightmares Voldemort could only hope to compare to. Could it be?

"T-the Shadows?" His voice was shaky, his eyes wide in realization mixed with slight fear and an attempt at denial. It just couldn't be. It couldn't.

The Soul-Creature scoffed disdainfully at this. "You do not know anything, do you? The Shadows, the Realm of Void and Darkness from whence we Shadow Creatures come. I will not go back"

At those words, Harry's gaze met the other's for the third time. They had connected before, back in the tomb, but it was only now that Harry could truly see those eyes as mirrors of his own. The same emotions reflected in both of their eyes, the same dread and fear of going back, laced with just a bit of relief at being out of there for now. Whatever denial he had managed to form in his head went crumbling down at that. They'd both been there, and neither wanted to ever go back. How could Harry blame anyone (even an exasperating, arrogant and sarcastic Soul-Creature) for not going there willingly? He was pretty sure he would have done the same thing himself.

The young magician lowered his hand and looked away, his eyes haunted as he remembered that place. "I do know what you're speaking of. I've been there myself, after all" He paused for only a moment, having heard a low sound of surprise coming from the Soul-Creature "You don't have to go back, you can stay"

The now solid Magician seemed unsure for a second, before nodding his assent and lowering his staff. From stalemate to draw. Both stood there for what could have been several minutes, neither of them saying anything or even looking at one another as they collected their thoughts and calmed their tempers. Physical differences aside, they were startlingly similar sometimes. Finally it was Harry once again who broke the silence.

"I don't even know your name"

The sentence seemed to leave the Ka speechless for a moment, having been caught off guard by such a strange thing to say. "My name?" Harry answered with a nod of confirmation and the Ka decided to humor the mortal "I am known as the Magician of Black Chaos"

Harry had to admit that fit his Ka better than a tailored glove. He still remembered the feel of the other's magic that night when he'd first summoned him, strong and chaotic. It was a bit too long to be a proper name, though. The young wizard shook his head, his lips curved upwards into a little smile.

"That's not a name, that's more like a title. It would be like calling me The Wizard" The Ka looked a little confused at the explanation and perhaps a bit annoyed at being told his name wasn't a name, but didn't argue with Harry this time. "Don't you have something else to be called?"

At that the Ka looked away, his eyes taking on a slightly glazed look as he got lost in his thoughts, trying to recall if he did have such a thing. And then his expression suddenly turned into one of smug satisfaction with quite a bit of dark amusement thrown in, just for good measure.

"The other humans who saw me, the ones who carried weapons" Harry concluded that he meant the soldiers who'd been there that night, seemingly so long ago, and nodded for the other to continue "They were rather…impressed with me" Harry took that to mean 'frightened out of their non-existent pants', but didn't comment "I have heard them speak of us sometimes, when I go to explore your dwelling. They took to calling me Sutekh*. Is that my name, then?"

Harry's head was tilted just slightly to one side as he contemplated the name and also tried to remember where he'd heard it before. He was sure he had, he just didn't remember where. _'I'll have to ask Atem about that'_ He finally decided that it was a much better name than 'Magician of Black Chaos' shorter and much easier to say, especially if it was one of those 'little time for words, more for action' kind of situation that seemed so fond of him.

"Yeah, I guess it can be. Sutekh, then. I'm Harry Potter, nice to meet you" He offered his hand to the Magician then, who stared at it for a moment, confused by the strange human custom, before seemingly remembering something and gingerly taking the smaller hand into his own.

It was a really strange sight. Mortal and Ka shaking hands in greeting for what was probably the very first time in history. Strange and unusual. It fit them both perfectly.

"I don't dislike you, by the way" Sutekh shot him a look that clearly stated 'uh-hum and I believe that', which almost made Harry snort in amusement. The wizard made his way to his bedroom, making a beeline for the comfortable bed and sat down there (hey, he was tired). He didn't even have to look to know that Sutekh had followed him, he could sort of sense the Magician's presence.

"How did you manage it, by the way, to stay here?" His voice carried none of the accusation from before and hinted instead only at curiosity, but it was still obviously making the Magician uncomfortable. "I'd have thought if it were as easy as hiding before being dismissed, more Ka would do that…unless they like going back _there_"

Sutekh looked away again, this time gazing out the window distractedly. "No, I don't think they like it there anymore than I do"

"Then why?" Harry didn't really want to press his luck anymore, but he was really curious and, as proved by previous misfortunes, his curiosity usually got the better of him.

The Ka suddenly turned to Harry, his expression having morphed into a self-satisfied one, smirk and all. He leant against the wall, arms crossed over his chest and looking for all the world like he was King of Egypt. Even then Harry could detect the slightest hint of worry coming from him and couldn't help but wonder what exactly could make the Magician worry.

"Because none of them had my brilliance, of course" Harry decided that if he ever, ever, went back to the future, he was going to keep his Ka as far away as possible from Draco Malfoy. One arrogant prick at a time is enough.

"Your brilliance? What exactly did you do, oh, bright one?" Harry was starting to understand where the Ka's sarcasm came from. Sutekh looked away again, though he remained just where he was, merely turning his gaze to one side. Harry felt a little pinprick of worry start to form in his chest.

"Well, I _may_ have had to fuse myself with your magic core. Don't worry, though, it was a perfectly safe operation"

The pinprick of worry exploded into rather great amounts of indignation. "You did _what_?" He was staring at his Ka with wide eyes and an open mouth, disbelief clear in his face.

Sutekh raised one hand to an ear, his expression annoyed, and his fingers twitching nervously every once in a while. "It is not necessary for you to yell, summoner, my hearing is not damaged. Neither is yours, as far as I know, you heard me correctly"

'_Damaged hearing! Argh, when I'm done with him, he'll have to worry about damage in much more than his hearing!'_ Harry was not a happy camper. The young wizard knew of the many dangers that could befall those who messed with their magical core, it had been one of the very first things Mahaad had warned him against. Sometimes a sorcerer got power-hungry and wanted to increase their magic, but there is only so much you can do after your core has finished growing that they had to turn to other methods, usually rituals and the like that increased or expanded the magical core, but doing that was extremely dangerous, not to mention it could have awful consequences, the price to pay for power. Add to that the fact that Sutekh was part of his _soul_, and it didn't paint a pretty picture. If Sutekh really did as he'd said, he had messed with both his magic ad his soul, actions that were very much dangerous separately but together, well, it was a miracle they were both still standing there.

"You could have killed me! You could have killed us both!" Okay, so perhaps Harry was a bit hysteric, but he felt justified after learning someone had tinkered with his magic and soul, even _Luna_ would yell for that.

His words and his panic seemed to have an effect on his Ka, for he finally left his spot against the wall and turned away, back to gazing out the window and into the afternoon sky. "I know" He sounded regretful and that was enough to give Harry pause, he sounded so different from any other time Harry had heard him. "I had very little time, the Shadows were already pulling me back, dragging me. I _had_ to do something, I could not go back. Then I noticed this little strand of magic extending from your core and I just…took the opportunity"

Harry didn't want to forgive him, he really, really didn't. What he had done was dangerous and stupid, and could have easily ended in tragedy. But then, could he honestly say that he wouldn't have done the same in the other's place? He knew how he would feel if he were suddenly dragged back to the Shadows, he still thanked Ra everyday for getting him out. Then there is also the fact that Sutekh was _him_, in a way, a part of him, and Harry had had enough of being angry with himself.

He placed one hand on his chest, roughly where the magical core rested, near the heart, and sighed. "What are the side effects?" He was no longer yelling, no longer looking like he wanted to jump away from the bed and tear Sutekh into little pieces to be fed to the crocodiles.

"What makes you think…?" But the Ka didn't get the chance to finish before Harry had already interrupted, snorting in light annoyance.

"Please don't try to mislead me. I know there are side effects, there always are for this kind of thing. What are they?" Perhaps it was the way he sounded level-headed but still firm that even made Sutekh answer.

"Your magic sustains me. Bringing myself to substantiality takes magic from you, even against your will if necessary, but once I'm fully corporeal I can sustain myself with either Magic or Ba" Harry had already come to that conclusion on his own, since he remembered the way his magic core had felt just a little emptier both back in the tomb and just a little while ago, right when Sutekh fully appeared. "My invisible form also spends magic, though it is a very small amount and you do not even notice it. I am essentially using your magic to tie myself, most of myself, to this Realm"

Harry didn't like the sound of 'most of myself' but decided that Sutekh probably didn't want to expand on that and besides, he still had other answers to pull from his reluctant Soul-Creature. "And what else?" Harry didn't believe for a second that this little magic expense was all, it simply couldn't be all, not with Harry's luck.

It took Sutekh at least a minute to answer, but Harry didn't press him or give up, he needed the answer. "Our personalities" He finally started speaking again "They are similar, but still different." Harry had to fight back the urge to roll his eyes at that, of course they were different. Even if they were essentially part of the same person, they were still themselves "They are starting to leak into each other, merging until they find a balance between themselves. We are changing with every minute I spend on this Realm, corporeal or not"

_That_ sounded like the sort of side effect Harry had expected. The bad sort. Harry had noticed it, of course, little changes in his mood and demeanor, but they were minuscule and he had chalked them up to maturing and adapting. Now it turned out that he was literarily losing himself. They both were. Harry didn't want to change, Sutekh wasn't bad or anything, but Harry wanted to be himself, not some merge of himself and his Ka.

Sutekh finally turned back to look at Harry, his red eyes holding a plea for forgiveness that he would never voice, but his mortal part still saw. "It is not that bad, summoner. We both always had the potential to be more like each other. We _are_ each other. The changes would have most likely come naturally anyways"

Harry just nodded tiredly, not really wanting to argue anymore.

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Harry had decided that, since he and the newly named Sutekh had finally made their peace with each other and he still didn't have anything else to do for the rest of the evening, he might as well go and talk with the Pharaoh. He really needed something to distract himself from the recent revelations and he hadn't seen Atem at all today, something that had not happened at all since his arrival. Something in Harry told him that he really missed the young King, which was rather confusing to the magician since he'd spent months before without seeing any of the friends he had know for a lot longer than he knew Atem and it was at least several days before he started missing them like this. He didn't question it long though, since that would mean trying to compare his friendship with Atem to his friendship with Ron and Hermione, and that just didn't seem fair (Harry still was unsure to whom).

Harry ventured outside, heading to the gardens where he knew Atem escaped to most of the time, an annoyed cobra curled loosely around his neck and an amused Ka floating besides him. The young wizard felt like shaking his head every time he remembered the first meeting between those two. He had tried to convince the snake for five minutes straight that no, she couldn't bite Sutekh and no, Sutekh couldn't bite her either. He had failed. In the end, the Soul-Creature had faded back into insubstantiality. Harry found out that the cobra couldn't see him (even though Harry himself still could, even if barely), but was still able to sense him around. This resulted in one annoyed snake, because she knew her target was there, somewhere, but she wasn't able to see him or, since he was neither corporeal nor visible, bite him. Sutekh felt rather proud of out-witting the snake that had out-witted Harry, and the young wizard resigned himself to praying for patience.

Harry soon found the King, sitting in the very same tree they had unofficially claimed (Harry argued in his mind that he had been there first, so it was _his_ tree, never mind the fact that the whole country practically belonged to Atem). The Pharaoh turned to greet his friend, smile on his face and all, when his eyes noticed the impressive-looking cobra hanging around his neck. He raised an eyebrow at that.

The wizard didn't even need his friend to voice the question, it was almost painfully obvious. "She didn't want to stay with the others. Blasted thing guilt-tripped me into bringing her with me" The reaction was almost instantaneous, Atem starting to chuckle.

"You were guilt-tripped by a snake? You need to improve your argumentative skills then, my friend" Harry might have blushed embarrassedly at that once, but he settled instead for grumbling as he dropped down to sit besides his friend.

"You know I could ask her to bite you, don't you?"

Atem chuckled again at that, and didn't show the slightest fear even when the cobra, curious about this new human, raised her head towards him, her tongue darting out to taste the air every once in a while. "Ah, but you wouldn't do that to me, Harry. You like me too much to have me assassinated by a snake"

The aforementioned wizard answered with more grumbling, mentioning something about overconfident Pharaohs and annoying snakes. They stayed like that for a little while, quiet and in peace (after Harry was done with his grumbles). They were like that sometimes, not needing to say anything and still having a good time. In the end, it was neither of the two boys who broke the blessed silence.

_~What are we doing here, little masssster? Who isssss thissss?~ _The cobra had apparently decided that they had sat still and silent for much too long, something that was decidedly unusual for humans, as far as she understood.

Harry turned to her, his hand moving to pet her scales almost of its own accord. _ ~We came to visit a friend. That's who this is. His name is Atem and he's the King here~ _Okay, so the snake was annoying most of the time and way too smart for her own good, but there was something strangely comforting about talking to her, perhaps the fact that she could never reveal his secrets to another human (unless they happened upon another Parselmouth and the odds of that happening were low enough to be entirely ignored) or that he was able to speak her tongue out in the open, without anyone jumping out and crying 'Dark Wizard!' at the first chance.

_~King? What issss King?~_

Harry paused at that, wondering how to explain ranking and rulers to a snake. He turned to Atem for a moment, almost asking for support, before recalling that the other couldn't understand a word they were saying. Indeed, the Pharaoh was looking at both curiously, his interest in seeing a person and a snake talk was enough to make him ignore the slight annoyance at not being able to understand them.

_~Eh, it means that this land is his. The people who live here obey and respect him~ _That was a bit simplified, but still explained it all in terms he thought his scaly companion would understand.

She seemed to do so after a moment of consideration, in which she turned to look at Atem and then back to Harry. _~Ah, this issss hissss territory. Are you hissss mate, then, if he letssss you ssssso closssse to himsssself?~ _There was no teasing or ill-intent on the cobra's words, merely honest curiosity, but they still sent Harry into mad stammering and blushing.

_~W-wha…No! It's not like that! He's a friend. We're not snakes, we don't just let…m-mates approach us~_ The snake only looked confusedly at the poor boy, whose now face was quite red by now.

_~Humansss are ssstrange~ _ She finally declared. Harry was about to argue on that when Atem's voice stopped him. Apparently, the King of Egypt had noticed his friend's embarrassment (it was a bit hard to miss, what with the redness in his cheeks).

"Harry, are you alright? What did it say?" Atem's voice was somewhere between concern over his friend and amusement at said friend's embarrassment. He probably found it funny that a snake, of all things, could make someone blush like that.

"Errr…nothing important" Harry couldn't even look at Atem right now, or he knew the blush he'd just fought down would return with a vengeance. '_Stupid snake'_ Distraction, he needed a distraction. He was looking around almost desperately, trying to find something that would take Atem's attention away from him, when his eyes fell upon the barely visible form of Sutekh some distance away, inspecting a little pool of water full of lotus flowers.

"I wanted to ask you something" Alright, now he had to distract Atem with the question and make him forget everything about the snake and his reaction to her words. Hopefully it would work, Atem always seemed pleased to answer questions. "It's a name I heard today. I know I've heard it before, but I don't remember where, so maybe you'll know who's called that" It sounded logical enough, since the Pharaoh knew a lot more people than Harry. Atem nodded in understanding and Harry continued, vaguely noticing that Sutekh had left the pool and was making his way towards them, apparently interested in knowing more of his new name. "It's Sutekh"

Atem looked a little surprised at that. "Where did you hear it? There's no one with that name in the Palace that I know of"

Harry felt a little disappointed at that, since he was still sure he had heard the name somewhere. "Just around, I guess"

The Pharaoh didn't look like he believed that, but didn't argue. "It's the name of a god" He finally admitted, and both Harry's and Sutekh's attention went back to him instantly. Harry wondered for a second if his Ka's ego could possibly go higher in finding out he was named after a god, and decided that yes, it could "He is a god of the desert, the storms, the darkness and chaos"

The wizard and his Ka were both surprised by that. And when Harry turned discretely to look at Sutekh out of the corner of his eye, he noticed an entirely too pleased smirk on the Magician's face. Bastard was taking that as a compliment, probably very amused that the soldiers had been comparing him to a god of darkness and chaos. His ego definitely went up at that, Harry decided, and almost groaned at the realization.

"Oh, and it is also an alternate form of the name 'Seth'" Harry couldn't contain the groan at that. Great, just great. His Ka, part of his soul taken physical form (if sometimes insubstantial), was named after the person who hated Harry the most in all of Egypt. He also thought that was strangely fitting, both were arrogant and smug and drove Harry to the brink of insanity. Figures.

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**Author's Notes:** *Giggles madly* I couldn't resist doing that last part! XD Ah, so now Harry and Sutekh *giggles some more* have finally had their talk and reached a tentative understanding. Man, I love that Magician! ^_^U This also explains a bit about Harry's personality gradually changing…in a way, the merging of their personalities is very much like maturing for both of them, reaching a balance in the potential personality of both…err, at least that's what I meant for it to be ^-^

Holy Ra! We're at 300 reviews, guys! I'm doing Joey and Tristan's victory dance here! ^_^U [you can see it here(not me, Joey and Tristan XD): http : / www . youtube . com / watch?v=1gCIrDO3nPA& feature=related] only, I'm singing about reviews XD

*More on the god by this name here: http : / en . Wikipedia . org / wiki / Set_%28mythology%29

And now, on to the voting!'

Hawk ||||||||||||||||

Big cat [includes lion, griffin and sable] |||||

Small cat [includes housecat, sand cat and African wild cat] |||||||

Phoenix ||||||||||||||||

Snake [includes obsidian, ivory basilisk and regular snakes] ||

And now, to answer some reviews! ^_^

**Orpheus Thanatos Messiah:** That also sounds like a wonderful idea, but it would sort of break the agreement with Ra. Harry agreed to this whole thing so that Sirius could be saved and being turned into a Shadow Monster doesn't really sound like saving (at least for Sirius, I don't think I would mind all that much XD).

**Magician Girl Mirani:** That we do XD I hope you liked his new name and thanks for the advice, I'll go goggle it right after this ^_^

**Miyuuki-chan:** Oh, there's going to be many, many Atem/Harry moments if I have anything to say about it. About Harry's adjusting, sorry if I took him a bit OOC, but he's always seemed like such a…survivor to me, I mean, he adjusted to the Magical World in a short time even after growing up being constantly reminded that there was no such thing as magic. But thanks for letting me know, I'll try to keep things not-quite-so-easy for him XD

**DarkLadyIreth:** Oh, I intend to do that…It's all part of my evil plan, you see *cackles* But seriously, Seth is much too fun to torment, I'll have to do it more frequently XD

**Kyuuo:** Thank you ^_^ They can speak as much as they want to now.

**Lady Nefetari:** We will be seeing where exactly Sirius went and also the reactions to Harry's mad jump into the Veil, but later ^_^ And yes, Sirius did get sent back, but Harry doesn't know that for sure until later ^^U

**AnimeConPhotoWhore;** Thank you ^_^ Oh, I gave up on using my cell phone for web surfing a loooong time ago, blasted thing would get all glitchy. XD

**berkie88:** Pooky…lol, I went into a giggle fit imagining the all-mighty mega-impressive Magician being called that XD Hmn, I'm considering consequences for the poor guy, but I haven't really decided, I'll probably mention the punishment in passing but won't focus much on it ^_^

**Mistress Sayu:** He hasn't heard about it yet…Harry hasn't told him and I seriously doubt the poor soldier would just confess ^^U but it will be interesting to write his reaction XD

Thanks to **everyone** who reviewed, your words are very much appreciated and liked! -^_^-

See ya all next chapter! ^_^


	18. Memories of a New Life

**Chapter Eighteen**

Memories of a New Life

"Speaking"

'_Thinking'_

_~Parseltongue~_

_"Sutekh speaking when insubstantial"_

_Flashback_ (Italics are inversed during flashbask)

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Two months had passed before Harry had realized it. Already his life in Egypt felt so natural, so real and obvious, while his life before the Veil has started to seem like a dream, which was a reverse of roles from when he'd first arrived. At first, he would sometimes wake up believing that the whole incident in the Department of Mysteries had been only a nightmare, that everything was alright again and he was back in his four-poster bed at Hogwarts, having woken up because of Ron's snoring. This vague hope of his never came true, though, and part of Harry greatly mourned that, while the other part concentrated on making the best of the situation. The young wizard was a survivor, had been since infancy, and so, being that he couldn't return to his life from before, he adapted to his life now. Harry now sometimes woke up believing that perhaps everything from that other life had been a dream, that maybe he'd spent a bit too long under the sun and gone delusional for a while. He knew this wasn't true, but he had nothing to remind him of the veracity of that life.

From the moment he had first arrived in Ancient Egypt, he had had nothing but his memories and his name to remind him of his old life, so he had held on to those things stubbornly, clinging to them even though it felt like clinging to a thorn bush. The memories hurt and made his heart bleed sometimes, but he held on, because he didn't want to forget, because he had still hoped he would one day return.

It was different nowadays. There was peace in this world, and little that Harry could really help with, and yet Ra had not sent him back. Harry had shed tears when he realized that he wasn't being sent back, that it wasn't as easy as that. He cried because he would never see his friends again, because they would never know what had been of him, he cried because he would never know what had been of them either, he cried until it hurt. He suffered, but he survived. His friends here, a Pharaoh and a magician girl, had helped him a lot, never going a day without visiting him and reminding him that he wasn't alone here. Hell, even Sutekh had tried to comfort him, if rather awkwardly. So Harry had survived and, as he had done before, he moved on.

He could have picked up the remaining pieces of his old life, he supposed. He could have remained clinging to them and suffering for it. He didn't. He had a whole new world to survive in, a whole new life to live, and he couldn't do that while he was chained down by the heavy reminders of Before. So he shed them.

He used the meditation techniques he had learned from Mahaad and later from Atem and locked most of his memories to the back of his mind. He could still recall them, if he wanted to, but they wouldn't pop up unannounced whenever he saw or heard something that could remind him of them. He worked instead on making new memories to go with his new life.

It was the same with his name. After he had locked the memories, when the barrier was still weak and Harry was still hurting, the mere mention of his name would send memories of others, from before, saying it crashing into the barrier, trying to surface. He had realized then that his name was tied tightly to his past and he wanted to leave that past behind. So he shed his name too. It had taken one very long argument, with several shouting bouts included, before he had convinced the Court, who were really the only ones calling him by name other than his friends, that he wanted to be called by his new name, Haru. The name was Egyptian, so it made him a bit less foreign in other's eyes, and it was similar enough to his real name to remember, yet different enough not to bring unwanted memories to the front of his mind. And so he became Priest Haru, a valued member of the Royal Court.

He had felt so awfully guilty at first. It felt like leaving all that behind was somehow a betrayal towards the people he had left behind as well, that perhaps he deserved to suffer the pain the memories brought, because that pain kept him tied to his friends back there. Was he a coward, then? Running from the pain by leaving behind everything he'd been once, before? The thought had tormented him most of the day, until he had finally given up and locked himself in his room. The guilt didn't stop until Sutekh rather brusquely commented that his friends and family would not want him to suffer, even if it was to remember them, and if they did, then they weren't really friends and not much of a family. The Ka's harsh words were oddly comforting and had brought Harry out of his funk.

The Magician of Black Chaos had slowly but steadily started to understand a bit more about his mortal part, and vice versa. They'd had a certainly rough start, and they could still get on each other's nerves without effort, but they had begun to get to know each other, to become more like teammates (or partners in crime, depending on who you asked) than just two people, or one person and one Shadow Monster, thrown together and forced to stay. It was certainly more comfortable now, and Harry didn't even flinch anymore when the Ka suddenly materialized in front of his eyes or when he woke up and was greeted with the sight of Sutekh's ghostly see-through figure floating right above his head, his red eyes firmly locked on Harry.

And as though his Soul-Creature wasn't strange companionship enough, the wizard also had to worry about a certain spitting cobra, who had apparently decided that Harry was an interesting enough human to stay around. The problem was that the snake and Sutekh didn't seem to like each other a whole lot and had quite a few arguments, which was really unpleasant for Harry because, being that Sutekh didn't speak parseltongue and the cobra didn't speak human language, the wizard had to translate the arguments. In the end, the best Harry could hope for was that they agreed to disagree.

Since the cobra had decided to stay, it had been decided that she needed a name too. Harry still snickered whenever he recalled how that had ended.

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**Flashback**

_Harry and Atem were still sitting in the garden, just a little after the Pharaoh had solved the mystery of where Sutekh's name came from. The two were enjoying a chat on meaningless things. It was certainly relaxing for both of them, after the hardships of the day and their respective jobs. It almost felt like they were normal teenagers sometimes, just talking with a friend and letting the world manage without them. They both knew it wouldn't last for too long, since they both had duties to return to, but it was nice while it lasted. _

"_What are you going to call it?" Atem was shooting a curious look at the snake still wrapped around Harry's neck as he asked the question, making it clear what he was talking about. The cobra didn't seem to notice that the humans had their attention on her now, apparently content with basking on the dying rays of the sun and doze off. _

"_Her" Harry corrected almost without realizing it. "And I'm not going to call her anything. If I give her a name then she stays, and she's not staying" He didn't really mind the snake all that much, but still, a snake, of all things. He wasn't going to keep her._

"_Oh, where is she going then?" The Pharaoh raised his hand to the sleeping snake and brushed his fingers lightly against the scales, petting it. Harry decided that Atem was either very confident in Harry's ability to control the cobra, or rather foolish. He finally concluded it was the former, and that brought a smile to his face._

"_I suppose I'll just set her free. I can't return her to the previous owner and she refuses to stay with the other five" Harry's hand joined Atem's in petting the snake, stroking its head and finally waking her up. She looked up sleepily and, once she found that it was the same two humans from before, lowered her head again and resigned herself to enjoying the feeling._

"_I don't think you should do that. This snake was most likely bred in captivity, she would not know the first thing about living in the wild" _

_Atem's words made Harry remember another snake, one he had met a long time ago, the very first snake he ever talked to. He wondered if the Boa Constrictor had ever made it to Brazil, before deciding that that was ridiculous and the poor thing had probably been caught by the zoo keepers before even reaching the exit to the zoo. Probably for the best too, since it wouldn't have survived on its own. Apparently, neither would this cobra. The question was, would Harry leave it in the wild anyways, knowing that it likely wouldn't make it, just because he had a stupid prejudice against snakes? The answer was no, he wouldn't. Harry liked animals, even snakes (though he wouldn't have admitted that to his friends even under pain of death), and didn't have the heart to abandon one to die like that, especially not one he had even talked to._

"_What do you propose for a name then?"_

_Harry's question alerted the other (unseen) member of the group to what was happening. Sutekh turned towards them sharply, eying the snake with distaste and Harry with disbelief. _"You are _not _keeping that thing, summoner"

_Harry tensed as soon as he heard the voice, nervously waiting for Atem to jump up and demand to know who was there, hiding and invisible. Only, Atem didn't even seem to have heard him and was apparently still trying to come up with a good name._

"_How about Maibe? It means 'grave' and we bought her to be a tomb guardian" Harry turned to the apparently comfortable cobra, keeping Sutekh's ghostly figure in sight out of the corner of his eyes and trying to come up with some explanation for this rather strange situation._

"_I don't know, let me ask her what she thinks of that" Harry was stalling for time, trying to come up with possible explanations (the main one being that he had finally gone mental and Sutekh was a figment of his imagination) while he hissed at the cobra._

~Atem thinks you need a name. He suggests Maibe, it means 'Grave', like the building you were supposed to protect along with the others~

_The snake raised her head once again, her entirely black eyes looking straight into Harry's _~Name? Humanssss are sssstrange. I will not be named after a building, tell your King to think of sssssomething elssssse~

"Did you not hear me, human? I said you cannot keep that thing"

"_What is she saying?"_

_Harry was being bombarded with three different voices, from three different directions and all at the same time, it was exasperating. Worse still, they could all only talk to him, since no one else spoke Parseltongue and no one else seemed able to hear Sutekh. _

"_Err…she says to think of something else, doesn't want to be named after a building" He decided to ignore the Ka, since he was the one no one else could see anyways. _

_Atem chuckled at his words and continued stroking the now attentive snake "Picky, isn't she? You could always name her Urbi, it means 'Princess' and she has the attitude of one" _

_Harry grinned at that, amused "A spoiled one, you mean" Atem answered with a grin of his own_

~What doessss he ssssay? What name hassss he thought of?~

_Harry wasn't about to tell the cobra the truth, still not sure of whether she would bite him_. ~We were just saying that you need a good and beautiful name, to fit you, we haven't come up with anything yet~ _The snake seemed to accept that and settled back to wait._

"_You better come up with something good now, I don't want to make her angry when she's on my neck" Atem's grin widened at that, clearly finding amusement at his friend's situation._

"You are ignoring me, are you not, summoner?"_ Indeed, Harry was. Sutekh didn't seem to appreciate this in the slightest, if his narrowed eyes and the frown were anything to go by._

"_Nubiti, 'golden lady'. Is that good enough for your scaly friend?" The Pharaoh's voice was lightly teasing now, but Harry didn't take offense at all, since it was mostly directed at the snake, even if she couldn't (thankfully) understand it._

"_She's not golden, though. She's brown" _

"_You are as picky as her" Atem couldn't contain his laughter at the dirty look his friend shot him at that. Apparently, Harry did not like being compared with picky snakes. The Pharaoh just shook his head, still amused, and continued thinking._

"I do not like being ignored, summoner. I tell you I do not want that _beast_ anywhere near me and as I have to be near you, I do not want it anywhere near you either"

_Harry had by now come to the conclusion that he was indeed the only one who could hear Sutekh's constant protests. And not only that, but the Ka was very annoyed at being ignored. Harry made note of that for the future and decided that his Soul-Creature could do with this little revenge after his less than exemplary behavior from before. Besides, being ignored might bring his ego down a notch or two, which he could certainly do with._

"_How about Sashaiti?" Atem finally asked, bringing Harry's attention back from happy little daydreams of vengeance against an annoying Ka._

"_What does that one mean?"_

_Atem shot an amused look at the snake still coiled around his friend's neck before he answered. "Necklace"_

_They shared a chuckle at that. The cobra had apparently come to the conclusion that they were taking much too long and raised her head again, turning to look at Harry since he was the only one able to understand her. _

~What isssss my name, then?~_ The impatient and suspicious look the snake was giving him made Harry answer before having fully thought it through_

~Sashaiti~_ The snake seemed to contemplate the name for a moment before shooting Harry yet another suspicious look_

~What issss itsss meaning?~_ The wizard almost gulped nervously at that, wondering if he should just lie to the snake and be done with it or risk the truth and getting bitten. He finally decided that a…modified truth should be enough._

~Necklace~_ He didn't wait for the snake to ask what a necklace was, knowing that she was getting impatient and he would have to tell her something anyways _~It is something very valuable for humans, they are considered beautiful and we sometimes pay a lot to get one~

_Again the snake seemed to go deep in thought, considering. Finally she gave a nod of acceptance, having decided _~Very well, then. Ssssassshaiti issss my name~

_Harry decided to never, ever tell the snake that she'd been named after a fashion accessory._

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

After that, Sashaiti had become a constant companion to Harry, since the snake refused to leave him for long. Harry was convinced that this was only because she enjoyed being carried around everywhere and not because she truly enjoyed his company that much. This had bothered Sutekh enough to make him go corporeal and attempt to get rid of the reptile by himself as soon as the three were back in Harry's rooms and away from prying eyes. Harry had fortunately stopped the ensuing fight before anyone could get blasted, sprayed with venom, bitten or transfigured into rats (the last being what he threatened to do to the other two unless they stopped fighting and let him sleep already).

Because of Sashaiti's refusal to leave her comfortable spot around Harry's neck (necklace indeed), she had also been present during Harry's lessons and the Court Meetings he had to attend. That had been quite amusing as well.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

**Flashback**

_Harry had tried, really tried for at least half an hour, to convince Sashaiti that she should go hunting or exploring while he attended to his duties. The snake hadn't budged and told Harry how she didn't trust the 'not-human' (her new nickname for Sutekh) and how she wouldn't leave him alone with the Ka. He was apparently too entertaining a human to lose. Harry didn't know if that was a compliment or an insult, but he had given up on figuring that snake out._

_He was now in the middle of a Court meeting, discussing border patrols and the like, and praying to Ra that his cloak was enough to hide the snake._

_Ra apparently wasn't feeling merciful today._

_Seth had been shooting him suspicious looks for at least ten minutes now. Usually this was nothing to worry about, since the man was always suspicious of Harry, but the wizard didn't usually have a snake hidden in the folds of his clothes. It was bound to happen sooner or later, and Harry knew that from the beginning. Sadly, it happened sooner. Sashaiti had been snoozing so far, apparently comfortable enough in her hiding place, but it was now mid-morning and the snake finally woke up. She raised her head lazily out of the folds of clothing Harry had tried to hide her in, trying to find out where the human had taken her now. It wasn't all that hard to notice a cobra peeking out of someone's neckline._

"_What is _that_?"_

_It just had to be Seth who noticed. Although, Harry certainly couldn't say he was surprised, since the man tended to watch him like a hawk and so was bound to notice first._

_The wizard almost flinched when everyone's attention went to him (again!). There were varied reactions. Seth, Akunadin and Shada looked less than pleased, probably because he'd brought a rather dangerous snake to the presence of their Pharaoh, while Isis and Karim seemed worried, probably thinking Harry was about to be bitten or the like, Shimon looked caught in his fight or flight reaction but doing neither, the man probably didn't like snakes, and Atem was watching with a rather amused smirk on his face._

"_It's a snake" The deadpan and dry look Harry shot the High Priest probably didn't make the situation better, but the man was much too easy to anger in Harry's opinion._

"_I know it is a snake. I want to know why you would bring it here" The tone was patronizing and the words spoken slowly, as though to a particularly dim child. Harry didn't appreciate it in the least._

"_Then you should have asked that, instead of what it was" He answered in the same tone of voice, his green eyes narrowed in annoyance by now. High Priest or not, Harry was not backing down and letting this guy walk over him. "And she is here because she refuses to leave my side (or neck) and I refuse to keep arguing with this particular snake, it doesn't really work anyways"_

_Probably not the smartest thing to say, it got him some strange looks from almost everyone in the room, while Atem looked like he was having to employ all his will into containing his laughter. Seth turned to the Pharaoh, his face set into a cold mask even as his eyes glittered with suppressed thought Harry was making fun of him...which he was, but only a little.  
_

"_Perhaps the boy should be sent to the healers for his delusions and someone else appointed to take his place. And that snake taken from him before he is bitten"_

_The words didn't fool Harry, he very much doubted Seth was worried for his health. The Pharaoh waved a hand dismissively, still smirking amusedly at Harry, apparently not willing to listen to the High Priest's ramblings at the moment. It was almost enough to make Harry grin in delighted triumph.  
_

"_Oh, you can try to take her from him if you wish, Seth, but I doubt she will go without a fight. Besides, Harry will ask her to behave during the meeting, will you not, Harry?"_

_At that the young wizard's expression turned to one of faked innocence, bright smile and everything. "Of course, my Pharaoh. What else would I do?" Rhetorical question._

_Harry turned away from the King and brought his attention to the now fully awake snake, who seemed to have realized that she had brought attention to herself and her human. _~Sashaiti, I have a favor to ask of you~

_The hissing surprised everyone in the room, sans the rather amused Pharaoh, and the surprise only escalated when the snake answered in the same manner. _~What issss thisss favor?~

_Harry grinned, throwing a challenging look at Seth that was much to brief to really be noticed by anyone else, before his gaze went back to the cobra. _~That man there, the one in blue, can you pretend you want to attack him?~

_The snake looked confused at that _~Can I attack him?~

_Harry shook his head. As much as he disliked Seth, he couldn't attack the man, and wouldn't even if he could, not unless the other did something first. _~No, just pretend to be angry with him. Can you do that?~

_The cobra didn't answer, but rather acted. She turned to Seth, her black eyes boring into his blue ones and she raised a good part of her long body out of Harry's clothes, her head swinging from side to side almost hypnotically and her hood flared menacingly. Her mouth was also open to what almost looked like impossible proportions and her fangs clearly shown to everyone in the room. _

_To Seth's credit, the man only flinched, but that was enough for Harry. "Ah, an error of translation, I assure you. She's perfectly harmless" He had to fight down the urge to smirk, especially when the High Priest shot him a very, very unfriendly look. Harry quietly hissed his thanks to the cobra, who seemed rather pleased for some reason and went back to her comfortable position around Harry's neck contentedly. _

_Needless to say, no one commented on Sashaiti's presence in that or any other meeting._

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He had also finished his lessons with Isis two weeks after they had first started. The Priestess had gone from being an acquaintance to someone Harry could honestly call a friend, even though they didn't share the same close friendship Harry had with Atem or even Mana. The lessons had been difficult to cope with, especially at the very beginning, when he still had so much else to get used to, but they had been worth it.

Those lessons and a whole lot of independent study had enabled Harry to become at least decent in his then new duties. The wizard remembered the ceremony in which he had officially been named Priest with both pride and nostalgia.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

**Flashback**

_The road to get here had been long and hard, but Harry had once again pulled through. He had never been what you would call a dedicated student, or an avid reader, but he had tried his hardest now, knowing that there was a whole lot more at stake than bad grades and extra homework here. He had changed so much from the boy he had been before this whole adventure, sometimes he even failed to recognize himself._

_It probably didn't help that the reflection staring back at him from the surface of the water looked so unlike him. He was wearing more formal clothes than the ones he had arrived in. They were robes, mostly white though they had golden trimmings and made of linen. The robes were long enough to reach the floor and, coupled with the white hooded cloak that Harry had kept from his old outfit, covered almost every inch of him from the neck down, expect for his arms, since there were no sleeves. _

_He had also finally given in to Mana's protests about his lack of jewelry and allowed the girl to take him shopping for more (something Harry was sure would give him nightmares for at least three days). He had finally settled on just two rings, one entirely golden and the other with an emerald set on it in the shape of a scarab, which seemed to be rather common in Egyptian jewelry; a golden amulet that was worn around the neck and supposedly granted protection from evil, to accomplish this it had hieroglyphs that prayed for protection etched on its surface, but Harry would call the thing a choker made of solid gold that thankfully granted protection from the feeling of a snake sliding around his neck and giving him goose bumps; and a clasp for his cloak, also golden and made in a rather intricate design. He had put his foot down when Mana reached earrings, though. The Millennium Ring resting against his chest completed the assembly. _

_And as though that wasn't enough of a change, his skin was also starting to acquire a nice, slight tan, not really surprising considering how much he liked to spend time outside even in the harsh Egyptian sun. His hair was also starting to get longer, being that he hadn't cut it since last summer. His emerald green eyes, which were the same as always expect for the fact that they no longer hid behind his now unnecessary glasses, had been outlined with kohl. All in all, Harry truly looked Egyptian for probably the first time._

"If you are done admiring yourself, you should get going. It is already late"

_Sutekh's voice woke him from his musings. He finally turned away from the water basin he'd been using to inspect himself and noticed that it was, indeed, late. The butterflies in his stomach went into fluttering madness at that, as Harry hurried to leave his rooms and make it to the throne room. He fortunately remembered to pick Sashaiti up from her spot in the bed before he left, or the snake might have never forgiven him for forgetting about her._

"_You two are please, please going to behave for this" He pleaded with Sutekh as they made their way through the maze of hallways, repeating the comment in Parseltongue for Sashaiti soon after. The Soul-Creature scoffed and the snake looked away in disinterest. Harry took that to mean that they would try, but no promises._

_When the three finally reached the throne room, the rest of the Court was already there, but they had managed to make it just in time. Harry gave a discreet sigh of relief as he stepped into the room, which was closed soon after. This was to be a private ceremony, after all. _

_The Court was standing in a semi-circle around the Pharaoh, all looking rather impressive and mighty. Harry fought down the urge to gulp or look down as he made his way through the formation, through their judging eyes. When he was finally standing in front of the seated Pharaoh, he kneeled, noticing as he did that Atem looked as uncomfortable with this as he himself was, but they both proceeded._

"_You have been chosen, rising above many others, to take a place in the Pharaoh's Royal Court" Shimon's voice easily broke through the tense silence, no one else daring to make a noise "This is the highest of honors. To accept this honor you must but swear your loyalty. Loyalty to the Pharaoh and loyalty to his people"_

_Harry almost shuddered at the words, his mind momentarily flashing back to that day not so long ago when he had similarly sworn himself to a god. That had changed his life in a way no one could have ever predicted, changed him forever, and he was sure that the same things would happen here. But…did Harry want the change? So much had changed already, the world around him, the time period, the people, everything, even he himself had changed so drastically. His mind was in turmoil, undecided, confused. What if he lost himself? Was he doing the right thing? He didn't even know how long he would be staying here, before going back home, to his proper time. He didn't know if he could make a good Priest. Sure, Isis said he was ready, but what if he wasn't? What if he failed? With the rank he would have control over many people's lives, guards and soldiers and servants who obeyed the Court and the Pharaoh. So much power. So much temptation. What if he couldn't handle it? What if it was too much. The silence was almost deafening by now._

_And then Harry looked up, just for a moment, and his eyes met with the worried amethyst gaze of Atem, the Pharaoh he had to swear loyalty to, his friend. Yes, Atem was his friend before he was his Pharaoh, and that would never change. Harry was already loyal to his friends, what could one vow change? Atem would be there, to help him not make mistakes and, if he made them anyways, to help him fix them. His friend had to shoulder the burden of being Pharaoh, and had been doing so without the slightest complain. How could Harry show less courage than Atem and back down from his own duties? And Mahaad, his teacher once, had wanted Harry to do this, wasted his last words in stating so. How could Harry deny him that?_

"_I swear" There was strength and conviction in his voice, unshakable and great, and filling every cell of Harry's body at that moment. He would not fail, he would not back down. He was a Magician, a Ka-Summoner, he was a Warrior, Basilisk-killer, TriWizard Champion. He was a Priest. Atem's Priest._

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

He had gone from being a rather clueless but determined foreign boy to a respected Priest of the Pharaoh's Court. The work to do had of course doubled after the official ceremony. So much to do, so little time to do it. Harry had struggled at first, but Isis and even Shada had helped him a bit during those harder days. In the end Harry had endured once more, and the piles of work that had accumulated on his desk had finally diminished to a tolerable level as he caught up with everything.

Atem had also helped back then, and still did whenever the wizard struggled with something, though this was happening less and less as time went by. The two of them had managed to keep a working relationship during the time with the Court and maintain their growing friendship once outside or behind closed doors.

If anything, they had perhaps grown even closer. In fact, the only fight he and the Pharaoh had ever had happened just a week ago, when Harry's hope of going home had crumbled and he had given up his name. The wizard could feel sorrow threatening to take over him as he remembered.

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Flashback

_He was never going back. He supposed he had know this from the moment he first realized where and when he was, but he had still foolishly clung to his hopes until they had been cruelly ripped from him, tearing at his heart in the process. He was never going back. He was never going to see Sirius again, or Ron and Hermione, or Remus, or Dumbledore, Neville, Luna and Ginny. He would never walk through the halls of Hogwarts again, his first home, or look down at its grounds from one of the towers, or fly in the Quidditch Pitch. _

_He was stuck here, thousands of years before he was supposed to be born, thousands of miles away from the land of his birth. He felt lost. He _was_ lost. And he would never be found. He felt the tears in his eyes start to leak out, wetting his face and finally falling down. His heart was constricting in his chest, bringing a feeling of painful tightness and burning. Sorrow and despair threatening to take over him, to make him go mad in the grief of it all. He was dead, for all intents and purposes, Harry Potter was dead. Tears continued to fall._

"Summoner, get a hold of yourself"_ Sutekh's voice sounded slightly worried, and that almost made Harry pause and snort. The Ka was never worried. He must really be a mess now, if he could get that reaction out of his Soul-Creature. But he didn't pause, he didn't even consider it. Grief stabbed at his heart, bringing waves of pain that overwhelmed his senses and mind. He was lost…so lost._

_He could hear, in the background, faded and distant and barely audible at all, the voices of a snake and a Shadow Creature, talking to him, trying to take him back to reality. He didn't want to go. He was suffering. Memories and feelings assaulting every corner of his brain. He was lost in it all, like he was lost in the world. He saw his friend's faces, he heard their voices, he could almost touch their bodies. _But they weren't real!

_Nothing was real anymore._

_It hurt so much, everything hurt so much now. He felt like he was going to die, for surely nothing but Death could bring this much pain. But he didn't. He didn't die. He remained and endured, as he always had before. The Boy-Who-Lived._

_It wasn't easy. The pain still clung to his heart and soul, still made them bleed and still made him cry. He tried to stay strong, to remain standing on his own and pull through. He didn't have to. His friends, the friends he had made in this new life, were there for him. Mana's bright personality and cheerfulness brought light to the darkness of his sorrow. Atem's strong will and unbreakable loyalty brought happiness and strength to his crumbling heart. _

_The three had bonded in a way that would keep them bonded for life during that night of Mahaad's death. Few things bound people together as closely as tragedy did. But now, when they supported him in his time of need and were there for him whether he asked them or not, that bond grew into something that Harry believed would not be broken even by Death. And then, the world was alright. Dark and cold and unfair, but alright, because he wasn't alone in it, because he still had friends. He had Mana and Atem, and even Sutekh and Sashaiti. They were there with him._

_It was after that that Harry decided it was time to leave the future in the past. He had a life here, he was someone else here, he had friends and a job, he had a duty to his people. His people. It felt so nice to be part of something like this, to have a place in the world, to be needed. Harry had never felt like this before, needed. _

_But the fact remained, Harry Potter was dead. The Boy-Who-Lived had died the moment he ran headfirst into the Veil, recklessly trying to save his godfather. Harry Potter did not belong in Ancient Egypt. Harry Potter was not a Priest. Harry Potter did not even believe in gods. But _he_ did, and so, he was not Harry Potter. Not anymore. So he locked away the memories that belonged to that dead boy, meditated for a whole night and worked without rest until the memories of that life from Before were all behind a barrier in his mind. Oh, he could still remember them, but only if he wanted to, only if he asked them to the fore of his mind. And so, the memory of that life could no longer threaten to make him crumble down, as it had before._

_But Harry Potter was dead, and so he could not be Harry anymore. He was another person now, a person born out of the ashes of Harry. He was an Egyptian Priest, friend of the Pharaoh, Chief of Security, Magician in training. And so he chose a new name, to go with his new life. He left his old name behind, locked behind the barrier along with his memories. He became Haru. Priest Haru then forbade everyone from calling him by the old name, wishing to forget it and never use it again. Those below his rank had no choice but to obey, and so they did. The Court, who had the same ranking as him, argued for some time with him, trying to understand the reason behind his strange behavior. The High Priest protested the most, but that was probably just for the sake of going against Harry. In the end, they had acquiesced. _

_The Pharaoh had not._

_After the Court had left, the King had tracked the youngest Priest down and practically dragged him to his room. The wizard had protested at first, but soon enough gave up and followed after his friend. No sooner had the doors closed, the argument had started. _

_Atem didn't understand. He knew his friend was in pain and he wanted to ease that pain, to make his friend better and never see him suffer again, but he didn't know how. Harry was bottling everything up and his recent breakdown had left everyone worried, but Atem more than anyone. He knew what Harry was trying to do, he could even understand the why, but it still wasn't right. Harry could not just pretend he was someone else, he couldn't just close his eyes and wish to be someone different and everything would be alright. Atem didn't want Haru, he wanted Harry._

_The argument had lasted at least half an hour. Harry was just happy that he had left Sashaiti behind and Sutekh had enough decency to leave as soon as the shouting started. This was personal and better left between the Pharaoh and himself._

"_It's my choice, Atem! Mine and mine alone, and you, mighty Pharaoh, have no right to interfere!" He was angry, so angry that he could feel fire burn in his veins, filling him. He felt dangerously close to blasting the man straight into the Red Sea.  
_

"_I _do_ have the right! I am your friend, or have you locked that away as well?" Atem's voice was bitter and frustrated, as though he didn't know what else to do with Harry anymore "You cannot do this to yourself, you'll only get hurt in the end" There was sadness and desperation in the King's eyes, so strong and clear that it almost made Harry want to weep._

"_You _are _my friend. As my friend, please accept this, Atem. Please, I _need_ this. I won't survive otherwise" Harry's voice sounded broken, defeated, the anger had been drained from him and left him weak and empty. He knew he made a pathetic sight and he hated himself for it, but he had no energy left in him to try and look all strong and proud. He didn't need to, anyways, not with Atem. With Atem he could always be himself, no matter what that was._

_He was stirred from his thoughts by the feel of a hand softly brushing against his cheek and he instantly looked up, his gaze leaving the floor, where it had rested just a moment before, his eyes bright with surprise and...something else, something unknown even to him. Atem's darker skin contrasted with his just lightly tanned one as his fingers wiped the stray tear from his cheek. Harry didn't know why, couldn't understand the reason, but the world didn't seem like such a bad place when he was like this, so close to Atem. The hand remained where it was as the two locked gazes, emerald and amethyst, not clashing, but mingling, losing themselves into each other and becoming something else entirely, becoming whole. Everything was alright again, for a moment, just one moment, but it was enough for Harry._

"_I can accept Haru as my Priest. But my friend will _always_ be Harry" The hand still hadn't left his cheek._

"_Always" And he didn't want it to._

_No more words were needed._

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

He had changed. He had grown and evolved. He had almost lost himself, even. But it was alright now, because he had found his place in this new life. He had a home again, even away from that beautiful Scottish Castle that had first given him the feeling of belonging. He belonged here now. He would live here and he would die here, and that was alright, because it was his home.

He looked up at the cloudless blue sky, the blindingly bright sun adorned it and cast it rays over the land of Egypt. His home, his land. He sent a prayer of thanks to the Sun God, for being brought here and taken away from the Shadows. Yes, he had changed and he had suffered for it. He had lost so much. But he had resurfaced, new and different, but alive and stronger than ever. And for once, he was happy. He had a new life to fill with new memories and for the first time ever, his life was his own.

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**Author's Notes:** Wow, talk about drama. I think I wanted to cry in some parts and pull my hair out in others. This chapter is extra-long and rather complicated too, so it took me all of yesterday to complete, that's why I didn't post it until today. I wanted to see in a bit of detail how Harry is growing and changing, becoming a different person and realizing his potential. I mean, no one goes through something like this without changing…a lot. Also, Atem's feelings finally start to show -^_^-

I was listening to the OST of _"Hachiko: A Dog's Story"…._helps a lot when writing dramatic stuff, I recommend it.

Anyways, what do you think? Harry also got an Egyptian name now, as I said he would ^_^ I'll still call him Harry in narrative and all, but the other characters will have to start referring to him as Haru. There's a very, very good reason for the name, but I won't disclose it until later, so patience XD

And now, on to the voting!'

Hawk ||||||||||||||||||

Big cat [includes lion, griffin and sable] |||||

Small cat [includes housecat, sand cat and African wild cat] ||||||||||

Phoenix ||||||||||||||||||

Snake [includes obsidian, ivory basilisk and regular snakes] |||

And now, to answer some reviews! ^_^

**LivingLegends:** Eh, those were the names I was considering for the cobra, I just wrote them there so I wouldn't forget them and then forgot to delete them before posting the chapter ^_^U So sorry about that, I've fixed it now. Thanks for letting me know they were there.

**Smoochynose:** I don't think time really has much meaning for a god. _If_ Harry gets sent back, it can be the very moment after he left or months after ^_^ And no, Sirius isn't aware since he wasn't present during the conversation between Ra and Harry and I doubt Ra is going to tell him that he sent his godson to Ancient Egypt in exchange for his freedom XD

**DarkLadyIreth:** Thank you ^_^ Hope you enjoyed Sashaiti's torment of Seth in this chapter (I'm saving Sutekh for another occasion XD)

**Kyuuo:** Nope, no mindspeech…yet. As Harry's bond to Sutekh grown, he might be able to, but I don't know ^_^

**DeathNoteMaker:** Thank you ^_^ Very interesting idea you have there, I've even got someone in mind now, but you shan't find out until next chapter! ^_-

**CatgirlKitsune:** Well, Harry's more of a…grey wizard, I guess. No longer light, but not really dark, you know? I mean, he doesn't enjoy killing people or anything, but he will do it if it becomes necessary. Ah, Atem and Harry's romance is in the horizon now, just a little more and we're there -^_^-

**Magician Girl Mirani:** Nope, the temptation of a tormented Harry is way too much for me and my sadistic nature XD you have to admit though, Harry makes an excellent tragedy target ^_^U I did look him up and wow, is that guy cool (literarily) or what? Hmn, I might indeed have to come up with a way of introducing at least something based on him into the story…let me dig around my mind and come up with ideas, I'm sure something will come to me ^_^

**JuMiKu:** Ah, that comes from a very volatile mix of being on holiday, being stuck in my parents' house during holiday in a boring little town and having nothing to do during said holiday. Boredom makes one very fast writer, doesn't it? ^_^U

**Erisabeisuu:** thank you ^_^ Sutekh is fast becoming one of my favorite characters, I'm even tempted to make a spin-off of this story focusing on him…might even do it when I'm done with this XD

**berkie88:** Yup, they would have hurt themselves if they had hurt each other, but both of them have a dangerous temper when angry and they can both be a little reckless. I'm also trying to keep them separate from each other, Harry is Harry and Sutekh is Sutekh, while at the same time letting them be part of the same person…it's a bit difficult and gives me a headache sometimes XD And yeah, anyone trying to drag Sutekh back to the Shadow Realm is gonna get one very pissed off Magician ^_^U I'm not trying to make the snake overly bossy or anything, sorry if that's how it came off…it's just based on my (admittedly little) personal experience with snakes. I had to look after a friend's pet snake once for two weeks, cause my friend was out of town doing field work, and it would give me this look that clearly stated "feed me _now_, or else…" when it was time to feed it XD

**Mistress Sayu:** I'm actually considering making her Harry's familiar, I think it would work nicely in the story, but since I make adjustments and change my mind like every twenty minutes, I'm still not completely sure ^_^ Oh, Atem _is _going to get all jealous and protective of Harry…sooner or later ^_-

**Sharingan-Youkai:** *smirks* Yeah…innocent. XD I'm still not sure if she did it on purpose, and I'm the one writing her ^_^U

**Mein Sternchen:** Thank you ^_^ Oh, Harry and Atem will help each other. I think they both need the companionship. I mean, Harry has always been regarded as either a hero or a nutcase in his time, never really having close friends outside of Ron and Hermione and Atem, well, the guy is thought to be a living god. Neither of them really get to be themselves much, but with each other they can and I think that's what brings them together ^_^

Thanks to **everyone** who reviewed, your words are very much appreciated and liked! -^_^-

See ya all next chapter! ^_^


	19. Interlude: The Pharaoh and the Thief

**Chapter Nineteen**

Interlude: The Pharaoh and the Thief

**Warning:** First half of this chapter is probably fluffier that a fluffy bunny rabbit...

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I could not have stopped this even if I had wanted to. I didn't want to anyways. I suppose he caught my interest from the very first moment I even heard about him, for it isn't everyday that you get a foreign magician wandering around the desert that surrounds your home. And then I saw him and my interest grew, but that was only to be expected, since he truly looked different from any other person I had ever met, with very pale skin and those eyes of his. After that came the revelation that he was a Chosen, like me, and I was too relieve by the coming of aid to really notice anymore about him. But then I met him, truly met him, I got to talk to him and get to know his opinions and ideas, even his feelings on certain things, and I liked the person I was getting to know, because he was honest and brave, he was friendly and true, and because he never expected as much from me as everyone else. I'm a living god to my people, of course they expect miracles and great deeds, but the young magician didn't, he only saw the human in me, instead of the higher being.

And then _that_ night came. We found out that Mahaad was in danger and rode to his aid, but my foreign friend made it there first and by the time Mana and myself had arrived, a fight was well on its way. And he, who had little training and virtually no knowledge of Summoning, had called forth his Ka in the moment of desperation. He got us out of there, at least the two of us that he could. I experienced a great loss and grief that night, because Mahaad had been a friend I would never forget and he was gone now, but the tragedy only brought me closer to those who survived the affair, and especially to him.

When I announced that he was to be the next Priest, taking over his teacher's place, and he got angered and left without accepting my apology, I thought for sure I had lost him. I felt despair, a kind that I had never before felt, not even when my Kingdom was in danger, and I was truly afraid. But I didn't lose him. He forgave me and I swore to myself that very same day that I would not waste the gift of his forgiveness and his friendship. We could never be anything but friends, but that would have to be enough for me.

And, for a time, it was. I was happy with the time we spent together every afternoon after his lessons, even though I sometimes had to work late into the night in order to finish what I should have been doing in that time I spent with him. A little lost sleep was such an insignificant price to pay for such enjoyable company. I had been infatuated with him before, even when I knew little of him and he was not being forthcoming with his secrets. But now, now that we had shared so much, even if it seemed like insignificant little things and not much of his secrets and past, I was in love with him, and I suffered because of it.

My affections were not returned, at least not on the same level. He was my friend, and he honestly liked me as a friend, which was more that I should have hoped for, but still not enough now. I was being selfish, and I knew that, wanting to have him all for myself. I guess I could have had him too, with little more than a few words after he had sworn his loyalty to me, I could have _ordered_ him to love me back, or at least pretend to, and there would have been little options left to him other than comply, but I _love_ him and I would sooner kill myself than hurt him like that.

I had never known love could be so strong, so beautiful and so cruel at the same time. The time I spent with him was wonderful and bright, but left me hurting and craving that brightness once I was alone again. I was hurting. But by then he was hurting too, and that was more important to me.

I knew that he missed his Homeland, even if he rarely spoke of it or the people he must have left behind, and now it was eating away at him. I do not know why he never spoke of it, or of returning, but from his silence I guessed that something painful must have happened that prevented him from going back and so I never spoke of it either. I knew then, when I looked into his eyes and they were dull with grief and despair, that it had been foolish of me to never force the issue, to never make him talk, to allow him to force all of it inside of himself until he could no longer control the pressure and the whole thing flooded worse than the Nile itself.

And he changed then. He tried to lock away everything from his past, perhaps without realizing that his past made him who he was now, the person I loved so much, or maybe he just didn't care. I was so angry at him then, as I had never been before, not with him whom I loved. He was taking away the person I was closest to, my dearest friend and secret love and I didn't want that, I could not allow that. I was being selfish again, but I didn't care, I wanted him back the way he was before, before everything got to him and forced him to change like this. I knew it was partially my fault, for forcing him into taking a job so full of responsibilities and worries that no one our age should know, but I honestly had good reasons for that.

I tried to put my foot down when he attempted to make me call him something else. A name represented everything that a person was, and to change it like that was…it was just not done, not if I had anything to say about it. So I argued, tried to convince him, make him see things my way, and when that hadn't worked I tried with good old yelling, but that hadn't worked either. When I looked into those green eyes, so full of desperation and sorrow, and my friend had admitted that he needed this, for his very survival, all the arguments I had thought of, all the possible strategies and options, had simply left my mind. I couldn't deny him anything, not even something as insane as this.

So I compromised instead. I separated the young magician into a Priest and a Friend, because I knew he would never be able to call him anything other than his true name during our afternoons together, and I didn't want to even try. It wasn't easy, and tore at my heart worse than anything else had done before, but I still did it. For him.

And now, as I look out into the night sky from my balcony, I wonder if this whole crazy thing will be my undoing, if the most powerful man on Egypt could really be so easily undone by something like Love. Perhaps, but it was most certainly worth it, would _always_ be worth it.

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I couldn't believe this had happened! It had all been planned carefully, risks measured and option considered, and it had all been going so well too, until _he_ intervened. The little magician who stormed into the temple, all righteous anger and honorable courage, and ruined everything. Pfft! I should have been able to handle someone like that easily enough, and would have too, if not for the fact that the elder magician refused to just die already. With the two ganging up on me and my Diabouund like that, it really shouldn't be a wonder that the little magician and his friends (one Pharaoh included!) had managed to escape. I might not have even minded their escape all that much, since I still planned on destroying the Kingdom before destroying the King and the other two were hardly important at the moment, but then he had taken the Ring, _my_ Ring!

And as though that wasn't enough, the whole blasted temple came crashing down with me still inside and I was left for dead. Ha, as if! I escaped of course, making good use of one of my Diabound's new abilities to go through the walls instead of having to navigate the place and find the exit.

I suppose that there was some good to the whole thing. The people of Egypt and their King all thought me dead, even buried already, and were therefore not expecting to ever have to deal with me again, which only made them drop their guard and become much easier targets for the very much alive Thief King. I waited for a while before starting to take advantage of the whole thing, a month that I gave them in order to drop their guard even further, and then I took up my job again, robbing in some of the outer villages and whatnot.

That, of course, had not been good enough for me, great Thief King that I am, and I decided to travel once more to the Valley of Kings and see what tomb I could pilfer this time. That's when I saw him again, the little magician. Only, he apparently was a little Priest now, two months after our first meeting. The boy looked so different, with those awful formal robes and whatnot, that I almost didn't recognize him, but I remembered him much too well to be fooled like that.

Well, that, and the fact that he was wearing _my_ Ring around his neck. The Item was being boldly displayed for all to see and, with it, his (minuscule and temporal) triumph over me. I should have been angry…hell, I should have been fuming at the point and making schemes to torture and murder the boy, but I wasn't.

I have to admit it, the little magician is bloody pretty, alright? I suppose 'handsome' would be the proper term, but I've never cared for proper things anyways. And I am and have always been a collector of pretty things. I also have to admit that I might be a _little_ obsessed with the boy, but that is entirely justified, since he ruined my plans and stole my damned Ring! I have spent the past two months thinking about that night and so, thinking about him, so I suppose my interest was to be expected. And the power, that magic and all, that he displayed back then, the look and feel of his bloody Ka, it all only makes him all the more interesting, more worthy. And the boy is obviously a foreigner, so he can't possibly be as loyal to the blasted Pharaoh as the rest of his pathetic little Court is, a weak spot in the circle of Priests, and one I am fully intending to use. I suppose it is only fitting as well, since I took his predecessor as well, that I steal this one from the Pharaoh's clutches.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I don't _like_ the boy and I am not crushing after or infatuated with him, much less in love (Bleh!)or any of that rot, I just want him for myself. The boy's power would be very useful to me, and the fact that he was once one of Pharaoh's Priests would only make the whole thing all the sweeter if I could indeed steal him away. Plus, as I said before, he's easy enough on the eyes and I find myself lusting after him…and the feeling of ownership that stirs within me at the sight of my Ring around his neck probably doesn't help. I want to have him, make him all mine, but I also want to make him bleed, to pay for having ever dared to be against me. I want him.

I decided then, that I would have him, one way or another. So enjoy your time in the Palace while you can, my little magician, because soon enough you'll find yourself living the life of a Thief instead, whether as a willing accomplice or a captured hostage…you will be mine.

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**Author's Notes:** Another interlude, so maybe not as long as the usual chapters ^_^U I'm not even really sure about this one…but it's much too early, I haven't had coffee yet and I'm writing in my cousin's computer because mine just _had_ to die and make me send it to repair….eh, well, let's move on then…

And now, on to the voting!'

Hawk |||||||||||||||||| ||

Big cat [includes lion, griffin and sable] |||||

Small cat [includes housecat, sand cat and African wild cat] ||||||||||

*Phoenix ||||||||||||||||||||||

Snake [includes obsidian, ivory basilisk and regular snakes] |||

The voting will only be open for another **two** days, so if you haven't voted already, hurry up before you miss the chance ^_^

* You might want to read this before making a decision, thanks to **Pixie dust of doom** for bringing it up ^_^ http: / www . mythicalrealm . com / creatures / phoenix . html

And now, to answer some reviews! ^_^

**berkie88:** Thank you ^_^ Seth-tormenting is one of my favorite hobbies nowadays XD And about Sutekh, nope, no one else knows yet and indeed Harry looks like he's talking to himself when his Ka is all spirit-y…that ought to make for some amusing scenes in the future, ne? Have fun in your vacation ^_^

**DeathNoteMaker:** Eh…probably not who you were expecting (and I have to admit, Past-Duke would have made an entertaining choice indeed) ^_^U but this ought to create some conflict and chaos, and that is always a good thing for the maniac authoress…'cause really, it doesn't get much more "inappropriate" than a Thief and a Priest….except perhaps Thief and Pharaoh, but even _I_ am not crazy enough to think that would work in this story ^_-

**LivingLegends:** I always use music to get rid of my writer's block…it works miracles on my inspiration and stuff, maybe you should try that? -^_^-

**Laesk:** I can't say, because I don't want to ruin the rest of the story for you guys, but I think that _if_ (and that is one big "If") Harry does indeed go back to the future, it would be impossible for me to keep him away from the Yugi-tachi ^_^

**Mein Sternchen:** lol, yeah they are, Harry is just lucky that Sashaiti doesn't have arms or I'm pretty sure they would start tugging at him from different directions ^_^ U And yes, I think Harry is indeed changing history, some things happened as they did in canon, but a lot changed as well just because he was there….I guess that makes the story AU ^_^

**Heaven's Archer:** Yeah, Harry was suffering a lot and finally broke down and decided to become a different person…not exactly healthy, but it helps him cope, I guess .

**candinaru25:** Actually, I think it's more like Atem's letting Seth suffer with Harry and Sashaiti XD

**Magician Girl Mirani:** Thanks ^_^ I researched Ulquiorra and, dang it, you just sent the plot bunnies in my brain into mad hopping frenzy! I am sooooo using this little idea soon as I get the chance ^_^ Oh, and about the name… ^_-

**Pixie dust of doom:** Thank you for your awesomely long review ^_^ Yes, I try to keep Harry and Atem equals…but equals as in 'same rank and status' and not as in 'carbon copies of each other'. I have to admit that yeah, perhaps I am giving them similarities and all, but the characters already have a very similar personality and even experiences in canon, that it's kind of hard not to. Both are heroes who valued friendship above anything else, both have tried their best to defeat the evil and save the world, and both lost so much in their pasts…Oh, and about the animagus form, well that is entirely up for the voting people (democracy and all that XD) -^_^-

Thanks to **everyone** who reviewed, your words are very much appreciated and liked! -^_^-

See ya all next chapter! ^_^


	20. It's All Fun and Games

**Chapter Twenty**

It's All Fun and Games

**Warning:** Death mentioned in this chapter.

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The time that had passed since his arrival in Ancient Egypt started to mean less and less to Harry, who some days even believed that this had always been his time and his life, before someone (usually either Atem or Sutekh) rudely woke him up from his dreams (or delusions, as they would say) and he regained himself. It was probably not the greatest of existences, but he managed well enough.

It was now flood season, which to the Egyptians was a big occasion and to be celebrated and prepared for. Harry had, for a moment when he first heard what season they were now entering, wished that he had paid a bit more of attention to History so he could tell what month, according to _his_ calendar they were in, but the thought was soon harshly shoved to the back of his mind, where Harry made sure it died a very quick death.

He was currently leaning against the wall on his balcony, his emerald gaze scanning over the great expanse of land that the afternoon sun lit in orange and golden. Egypt was without a doubt one of the most beautiful places he had ever seen in his life, and he found himself falling in love with it a little bit more every day. His lips curved into a small and sad smile.

"_You have been out here for hours"_ The by now familiar voice of his Ka reached his ears easily in the silence and peace of this place _"You should get inside and ready…Harry"_ The same annoying Ka who had decided that he should stop calling him 'summoner' and start using his name…the same day he decided to be done with that name and never use it again.

The young Priest had attempted to talk the stubborn Shadow Creature out of it, but then the other had mentioned how it was unfair that Atem, who didn't really have any relationship with Harry at all, got to use his name and his own Soul-Creature couldn't. He found then and there that his Ka had indeed been eavesdropping on that particular conversation between the King and himself, which for some reason made his whole face turn red and try to deny the whole thing. He didn't really understand why exactly he was embarrassed, but it was enough to know that he was, and so he had given in to the Magician in order to stop the torment. He was kind of regretting that now.

"I am ready, Sutekh, I was just….thinking" The wizard's voice was softer, calmer, but also colder than when he had first arrived, not that said wizard really noticed. The Ka appeared at his side, his see-though form floating calmly just a few inches off the ground.

"_What is the word?...Ah, yes, brooding is more like it, human. You like to do that a lot"_

Harry snorted at that, but otherwise didn't respond. He turned his back to the beautiful sight of the landscape and walked back into his rooms, knowing without having to look that Sutekh followed after him. As time went by he was starting to get more and more sensitive to his Ka, since their rather unusual bond grew stronger. It was comforting sometimes, the feeling that Sutekh was always there, no matter what, but it could also get annoying when trying to have some privacy, which the Ka seemed to have little understanding of.

"Are you sure you wish to come? There is going to be an awful crowd of us 'silly humans' and you'll probably get bored" He was trying to talk the Magician out of accompanying him. It wouldn't work and they both knew it, but he tried nonetheless.

"_More boring that staying in this same set of rooms? Why, not even you, _Harry_, can manage such"_ The aforementioned wizard felt a headache start to make itself known, and the evening hadn't even started yet. He sighed and shook his head, before carefully lifting the hissing cobra off a nearby couch and placing her on his shoulders, making sure to ignore the Ka while he hissed a greeting to the snake. That was bound to at least severely annoy Sutekh.

He had tried to keep his two non-human companions from attending this particular event, but neither of them had budged, and he had not expected them to. In the months they had spent together, the three had come to be comfortable with each other, to a point where Harry would even call them friends, if not for the fact that the two would probably laugh in his face for it. Stubborn gits.

He exited his chambers and quickly navigated through the corridors with the ease of someone used to the Palace, for it had been his home for months now. The usually deserted hallways were bustling with activity as people came and went, some carrying trays of food and drink and some just walking through. All of them made way for the Priest, moving aside to let him pass unhindered. Harry, no matter how much he changed and tried to become someone else, was still seriously uncomfortable with attention and special treatment, but tried to keep his discomfort down by telling himself that they were only moving away because of the rather menacing snake comfortably wrapped on his shoulders and neck. It might even be true, for all he knew.

It was the first day of the celebration for the start of the new season, and people from all over Egypt had come to the Palace to attend this celebration in the presence of the Pharaoh himself, which only gave Harry and the other Priests a whole lot more to worry about with the increased probability of an assassination attempt. The wizard's green eyes narrowed as he mentally dared anyone to try and harm his friend with him, his easily angered Ka and an equally volatile spitting Cobra around.

He finally reached the throne room, the doors had been left wide open in invitation and the whole room was even more lavishly decorated than usual. Incense burned in several holders, giving the place a pleasant if slightly heavy aroma, people were happily chatting with each other as they ate and drank to their heart's contents, sure to suffer the consequences of overindulgence in the morning. Off to one side he could see Mana proudly displaying some of her magical skills to an avid and cheerful crowd, Isis standing to one side with a smile and encouraging the young magician girl while Karim just stood to one side, only watching but apparently still enjoying the evening. On the other side of the room he could see Shada politely speaking with a group of men who could only be nobles, if their clothes and golden jewelry was anything to go by, white Akunadin stayed in the background, watching everything with both normal and Millennium Eye. Shimon and Seth were both predictably standing close to the Pharaoh, as they always seemed to do whenever Harry saw them in this room. Perhaps it didn't look it, but each and every one of them was keeping an eye out for trouble at the same time they enjoyed the festivities…each in their own way, of course.

"Haru! Please come join us" Atem's voice easily carried even through the high level of noise from the people talking, music playing, plates and goblets clinking and whatnot. Harry felt his lips twitch as they tried to smile in greeting at his friend, but managed to keep a calm enough attitude. He didn't want to look like an over-excited puppy in front of all these people. He made his way to the seated King easily enough and only then did he offer a rather cheerful smile. Apparently the festive mood of the whole Palace was contagious.

It was good to be home.

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The partying would go on all through the night for those who wished to stay, but most sane people retired back to their rooms and beds in order to keep up with the celebration tomorrow. Harry wondered whose bright idea it was to do this for a whole blasted week, but he didn't voice his thought. Instead, he was much too busy trying to haul a certain spiky, tri-colored haired friend of his back to his room. He also wondered whose bright idea it was to let the Pharaoh, barely more than a teenager, consume large amounts of alcohol. But then he decided that there really wasn't much anyone could do about it, because really who would dare tell their Monarch that he had had enough to drink? Harry cursed himself for having been distracted by pesky nobles and other magicians and not having paid attention to his royal friend most of the evening.

"You…you are being si-silly, Ha-rry, I did not have so-so much…I diiid not" The wizard rolled his eyes at that.

"_Clearly_" He shot his friend a dry and decidedly not amused look, wishing for a second that he could pull off Snape's 'you-have-been-caught-and-are-in-such-trouble-you-little-menace' look, but then remembered that he was not supposed to be thinking about anyone from Before, and most certainly not Snape, of all people, and desisted.

"Let's just get you into bed, oh mighty Pharaoh" His answer was a giggle. A _giggle_. Clearly Atem had had more to drink than he had previously thought if the usually dignified, proud and regal man was giggling.

"_You humans are not just strange, you are also stupid if you willingly do this to yourselves"_ Sutekh's annoyed but curious voice filled the silence that had enveloped them after the blasted giggling stopped. Harry looked like he might have agreed, it only the Ka wasn't insulting his friend while making his point, not to mention that he wasn't sure if said friend was drunk enough to notice Harry speaking to what might look like empty space. He decided not to risk it.

When they finally reached the door to the Pharaoh's chamber Harry had to leave his friend leaning against one of the walls for support in order to open the door and finally get them inside. He was contemplating never ever stopping teasing Atem about this once the man was sober enough to understand teasing and be actually embarrassed. The idea brought him enough amusement to make up for the trouble of having to half-drag the other man all the way here. He was just turning around to get the King when _it _happened.

One second he was standing there, just turning around, and the next he had a pair of lips rather firmly planted against his own. Atem's lips. His eyes widened to impossible proportions as his heartbeat started increasing until it felt like his heart was trying to pound a hole through his chest, his lungs had decided to stop working and his brain went though temporal shut down and restart. His emotions were all mingling and mixing and blending into one huge unrecognizable jumbled mess. One moment he was happy, and then confused, or outraged, comforted, ecstatic, annoyed. And then, when his brain finally started working decently enough, he remembered that the other was drunk, that he probably didn't know what he was doing, and that this didn't mean _anything_.

He stepped back as soon as the realization hit him, not pausing to wonder about the sense of loss and sadness he got as they separated so suddenly. This wasn't right. He didn't like Atem like that, and Atem most certainly didn't like him that way either, but he wasn't on his right mind at the moment. But even telling himself all this didn't erase the feeling of the other's lips brushing and crashing against his own like that, the emotions that they stirred in him and his half-buried heart. He didn't want to think about it, he shouldn't, couldn't…because if he did, he was pretty sure he would end up starting the next kiss himself.

And then a distraction presented itself, saving him from having to say or do something to stop the awkwardness of the moment. It still wasn't a welcome distraction. Harry's mind was much too busy trying to assimilate what had just happened that he had noticed nothing else in the world but Atem and himself and if it weren't for Sashaiti's hurried hiss, he probably wouldn't have noticed anything else ever again.

~Ssssssomeone approachessssss…and fasssssst~

Harry barely had time to make sense of the snake's words before something else got his attention, his ears just making out the sound of something traveling quickly through the air, cutting it. He only managed to half-raise his hand and ready his magic before commanding "Rise!" The stone that made out the floor obeyed the purpose of his magic and several bricks rose into the air, forming a barrier between the two youths and danger. No sooner had the stone barrier been formed, an arrow crashed noisily against it, shattering.

Harry cursed in both Egyptian and English, berating himself for not only having been caught by surprise like this, but by telling the guards earlier that he could manage on his own and did not need to have himself and Atem escorted like criminals. Not one of his brightest ideas.

The sudden change in the mood and the appearance of an arrow out of nowhere seemed enough to sober Atem up almost instantly, his eyes focusing on their surroundings even if he still struggled to remain standing on his own. Harry was only thankful that he hadn't passed out yet, or this situation would be much worse than it already was. "Who is there? Show yourself!" The King's commanding voice showed none of the earlier stuttering and only a slight slurring at the end. Harry was almost proud of his friend for hiding his current weakness so effectively, if recent events didn't have him confused almost out of his mind.

Two men stepped out of the shadows, the silvery light of the moon allowing Harry to make the barest of details about them. They were tall and well-dressed, with typical Egyptian features and carried themselves proudly. Probably hired thugs of the more pricey variety, he concluded. One of the men, one with almost amber eyes, stepped forwards, placing a hand on the other's arm when he had been about to draw some weapon, stopping him.

"You are skilled in magic, young Priest. There is no need for you to die, it is not your death that we want. Let us have the Pharaoh and you will be spared, little brother"

Harry felt a deep anger take root in his already chaotic well of emotions and his magic rise to the surface in response. No matter how much he meditated and trained, his magic continued to respond to his feelings, but this was probably not the time to think about that.

"I would choose Death first" He almost didn't recognize his own voice, cold and yet fiery in his anger. For a moment, he sounded remarkably like a pissed off Sutekh "And I'm not your _anything_"

The man responded with a darkly amused chuckle and Harry felt his danger-meter rise up one more level. It was never good when your enemies laughed at you, usually meant that they knew something you didn't and could very well mean your undoing. He kept his eyes firmly trained on the two men, not leaving them for a fraction of a second even as he hissed under his breath, hoping not to be heard.

~Keep your eyes on Atem and go to him at the first chance you get, make sure he remains unharmed~

The cobra didn't answer, either knowing that it was best not to attract attention to herself or simply not liking Harry's plan at all and therefore refusing to speak with him. The wizard was only relieved that she hadn't argued because that meant that, even if she disagreed, she would still follow his wishes.

He was shaken from his thoughts of helpful if slightly rebellious snakes when his senses detected a sudden burst of magic just as the amber-eyed man raised his own hand. A magician! Harry rapidly cursed some more, not really having time to do much else.

"Harry!" He barely heard his name (old name!) being shouted before something crashed against him and threw him to the ground. Pharaoh and Priest went down, one landing on top of the other a bit painfully, but both safe for the moment. The wizard could also feel Sashaiti swiftly make her way to Atem, probably wrapping herself around his arm or something. It was a testament to Atem's trust in Harry that the King didn't show the slightest reaction to the snake's sudden invasion of his personal space.

His anger increased then, because he most certainly did not appreciate being attacked like that and sent to the ground in such undignified manner. The game was on. He quickly sent a wave of his own magic down the link he maintained with his Ka, anticipating that the Soul-Creature had been about to take it anyways and deciding to be cooperative. He was actually happy to sic Sutekh on these guys.

The ka materialized without further ado, no impressive light show or great booming noises, he simply wasn't there was moment and appeared the next. A blast of his own Shadow magic later and the amber-eyed man was forced to put up a shield in order to prevent himself and his companion from being blasted into oblivion. Harry had to admit, the guy was skilled enough at magic. It wasn't a comforting thought.

The Pharaoh took the chance provided by Sutekh's appearance and got up with more grace than Harry expected from a man who was drunk enough to have been stumbling and kissing his friend just a little while back. The wizard soon followed, just in time to avoid a blow from a scimitar that fell just where his head had been a moment ago. The attack seemed to enrage Atem more than it did Harry and the King was quick to draw a dagger out from somewhere on his person and start fighting with the guy, Harry was only slightly comforted by the sight of Sashaiti's head peeking out of the folds of his friend's purple cape.

Knowing that he could do little to help in a sword fight, he turned instead to aid Sutekh, not willing to let his Ka do all the fighting. _"Stupefy"_ it had been a while since he had used any of the spells from Before, but it felt strangely comforting to use the familiar words and magic, and to see the red beam of light leave his hand and travel towards the other wizard. It unfortunately didn't hit, as the man was fast enough to dodge, not being able to block that at the same time he blocked Sutekh.

"Alright, I admit you have us at a stalemate, little brother" The amber-eyed man spoke again, just after throwing a spell at Harry and Sutekh each, they both managed to block, but since they both basically used Harry's energy and magic, the young wizard was getting tired. It probably didn't help that he had spent most of the night at the celebration and had had his own _reasonable_ number of drinks and was therefore already drowsy and tired.

"How about we settle this…with a Shadow Game" Harry felt his blood freeze momentarily at that. No matter how much time passed and how much he might change, he still feared the Shadows above almost anything else. It was one of the reasons he refused to practice Shadow magic, other than the summoning of his Ka, but since he technically hadn't had to summon him again (since he was always mostly in this Realm anyways) he hadn't really done anything.

And if Shadow magic was dangerous, Shadow Games were positively _lethal_. A Shadow Game could be any sort of gambles, always with high stakes and in which the Shadow Realm itself acted as Judge, Jury and Executioner. It never, never had pleasant results for the loser. They were played by many people, mostly those of higher rank, to settle disputes and arguments. Harry did _so_ not want to play one of these Games, he never wanted to be involved with the Shadows again in his life. But really, it was probably the best option they had at the moment, with his magic being used by two individuals and still decreasing, and Atem busy trying to fend off an armed man while still under the effects of alcohol. It didn't look good, but they had an opportunity, and he decided to take it.

"Let's play, then" He was determined to win, to get both himself and his friends out of the dangerous situation like he had many times before…_ 'Except then, in the Department of Mysteries. You failed then, will you fail now too?' _He shoved the thought way viciously, but the damage to his confidence was done. It was true, that he had failed before, when his friends most needed him and he had recklessly jumped into an otherworldly Veil, never to return, when he had abandoned them to their fates. The locked memories were threatening to burst out of their prison, and at the worst possible time too.

"You will win, Harry" The always self-assured voice of his Ka broke through the confusion of his mind and reached him, startling him for a moment at the vote of confidence, so unlike Sutekh. "There is no way my summoner will lose to such a second rate magician" Ah, that sounded much more like the arrogant and annoying Ka he knew and loved. The words did indeed help, for if Sutekh (who was always doubting him and commenting on the general weakness of humans) could believe in him, then so could he. He was _not_ going to lose this. For Sutekh and Sashaiti, for himself…for Atem.

"Very well" The man's smirk was starting to unnerve him, but it was nothing compared to the feeling he got when the shadows started to shift and change, wrapping themselves around the two as the challenge was issued and accepted. The Game had begun and whatever the end, one of them would not emerge the same. Harry could hear Atem's voice call his name in the distance, but couldn't turn his eyes away from the Shadows in order to look. He felt Sutekh stand to his side then, a confident and quiet guardian always with him.

The other man didn't seem to mind the presence of Harry's Ka, and he really had nothing to fear from Sutekh right now, for the Shadow would not tolerate the interference with the Game, even if it came from Harry's own Soul-Creature. This was between the two humans and no one else.

"Since we are both gifted with magical skills, we shall have a contest of magic. No spells or incantations, just raw power and trying to overwhelm the other with it" The Game was most definitely unfair, or at least it might seem so, because Harry was still young enough that his magic had not yet reached its full potential and was still growing. But the youngest also had something on his favor, his magic might still be a bit erratic, but it most certainly was powerful, powerful enough to sustain both Sutekh and himself…powerful enough to beat this assassin-wannabe.

"Alright. The stakes?" His eyes were narrowed and his fists clenched in determination as he reigned in his magic in order to keep it from wasting before the main event. He saw Sutekh fade out of the corner of his eye, trying to save more of his magic by decreasing his spending of it, but still there, still watching.

"I told you before that you could save your life, and you said you chose death instead. It seems fitting then that we play with our lives" The man's callous disregard for his own life made shivers run down Harry's spine. A man who gambled with his life like this was dangerous and unpredictable, because he was likely to do anything in spite of danger to himself in order to achieve his goals, whatever they were. Harry only nodded his consent, sweat starting to form on his brow. He had been in a similar situation once Before, back in that thrice-damned Graveyard. It had been an awful experience to be sure, but Harry had still made it out with his life, even if his childhood had been hopelessly shattered afterwards. He had survived that, and he would survive this.

"And…begin!" At the signal words from the other wizard, both of them unleashed their magic in a raw, untamed beam directed at the other. The energy crashed in the middle and started battling as the two poured everything they had into it. This was way too similar to that night, and Harry could feel his concentration slip just the slightest of bits at the unwanted memory, which was quickly locked away once more.

This was important, he had to focus, he _had_ to win. He couldn't afford to lose, not this time, not to this man. He tried to bring all his concentration into this, using the meditation techniques that he had been taught to shove feelings and thoughts away and feel only the magic, to control it to his will and make it stronger, to forget himself and become only a wielder of that energy.

Only, it didn't work. Or rather, it worked just fine and he could feel his magic slip into his control once more, no longer erratic and unpredictable…but also weaker. His own beam of magic diminished in size and power and was quickly being overwhelmed by the other.

'_Similar…so similar. No, forget! Focus!...Can't, so similar…He died that night…Forget!...What if someone else dies today?...No, keep the memories away, focus!...What if Atem dies now?'_

His frenzied thoughts stopped momentarily at that last part, and it was almost as though the world itself stopped with them, pausing for a moment to wait for his reaction. And just like the last time, right when he thought he was defeated and done for, something happened, something that saved him. This time there was no one else to help, of course, not the spirits of the deceased and not his friends, because that would be cheating, and very bad things happened to those who tried to cheat with the Shadows there. No, this time his savior was himself, or rather, his wild and jumbled emotions.

His magic exploded outwards and into the beam of light, it was just one wave and nothing else, because the power that one wave carrier was such that it left him immediately drained. That explosion of magic carried with it his fear and frustration at the situation, his hope and determination to make it out of it, his worry over his friends, his confusion and…other feelings at Atem's kiss. It was an overload, great and powerful but uncontrollable and once that one wave dissipated, he was done for.

What Harry hadn't counted on was that the sheer strength from that one single burst was enough to momentarily overwhelm the other's steady beam and blast right into him. His magic was but one short flash of light, but that seemed enough to beat the darkness for one moment, and that was all he needed.

He watched in morbid fascination and a healthy dose of fear as the Shadows once again started twisting themselves into impossible and actually physical shapes, wrapping themselves around the other wizard almost lovingly, covering his body in living Darkness. "No, no, no! He can't win! He cheated! He che…" The man's screaming voice faded into nothing as the Shadows covered him completely, making him look like some bizarre sculpture made of obsidian. The sight and situation was almost enough to make Harry sick.

Finally the Shadows retreated, both from the man and the place. The Shadow Game was over and the punishment had been met. Harry's eyes stayed glued to the crumpled form of the amber-eyed man, who no longer moved or screamed, before he tore them away from the ghastly sight to look for Atem instead.

He felt relief when he saw his friend was unharmed and the other assassin apprehended, Seth and Shada standing next to the King, having apparently arrived to lend some help, or perhaps merely to take the criminal away. The relief, however, faded away rather quickly when he looked into Atem's eyes and saw dread and something else there. It was then and only then that he remembered what had happened between them only seconds before the attack, having been otherwise preoccupied the rest of the time.

He averted his eyes as quickly as he could then, turning away from the Pharaoh and his Priests, not knowing what to do or say. He noticed Sashaiti moving towards him on the floor, having apparently decided that Atem was safe enough and she could go back to her human. Happy for something to do that didn't include talking or even looking at the King, he crouched down and took the cooperative cobra in his hands, brushing his fingers against her head as he thanked her for a job well done.

"Har-Haru?"

And then he heard Atem's voice, and any vestiges of composure he had went flying out the window then, and he felt a light panic take over him at the same time he felt a blush take over his cheeks. He didn't look up, hiding his face with his messy hair and own shadows as he turned away and started a rather hurried walk back to his room. He didn't want to deal with Atem's regret and apologies right now, he was much too tired from everything that had happened this night and his emotions were already frayed enough that he might start yelling at the Pharaoh right in front of the other two Priests. No, it would be best to leave this until tomorrow, or even better, until never.

And so, he ran.

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**Author's Notes:** A bit more of action on this chapter, and of course the never-ending drama that I seem to love so much! XD Well, this was Harry's first Shadow Game, right after his first kiss with Atem…man, that boy's life is sure never boring, and never will be if I have anything to say about it.

And now, on to the voting!'

Hawk |||||||||||||||||| ||

Big cat [includes lion, griffin and sable] |||||

Small cat [includes housecat, sand cat and African wild cat] ||||||||||

*Phoenix |||||||||||||||||||||||

Snake [includes obsidian, ivory basilisk and regular snakes] |||

The voting will only be open for another **day**, so if you haven't voted already, hurry up before you miss the chance ^_^

* You might want to read this before making a decision, thanks to **Pixie dust of doom** for bringing it up ^_^ http: / www . mythicalrealm . com / creatures / phoenix . html

And now, to answer some reviews! ^_^

**Magician Girl Mirani:** Thank you for your great ideas and opinions! ^_^ Oh, I know this site with loads of Anime online, I'm sure they'll have it, or at least the first season or something so I can at least get an idea ^_-

**Miyuuki-chan:** Yup, Harry always gets obsessed maniacs, he's really lucky that Bakura is the first to get obsessed in _this_ way because, let's admit it, Voldemort has Freddy Krueger beat in the ugliness department, and that guy is supposed to be a freaking nightmare. Bakura makes a much more….err, pleasant on the eyes sort of villain -^_^-

**DarkLadyIreth:** I have to admit that when I first started writing this, that was all they were going to be but then as the story went on and more ideas got into my head the pairing just seemed…right, you know? I will try to keep the relationship real enough, though….well, as real as I can while being a girl writing about two boys in love ^_^U

**Mistress Sayu:** Yupsie, Harry has always seemed a bit clueless in the love department to me *coughChocough* so that hasn't changed, and I think he already likes Atem, he just hasn't realized it yet…the poor boy ^_^U Oh, and it will definitely be interesting to watch Bakura try to convince Harry to betray the Pharaoh and run away together with him XD

**candinaru25:** Nope, not yet since he's still needed for the story…plus, the guy is worse than a freaking cockroach. He has been blasted into the Shadow Realm like a dozen times and he still always makes it back XD

**JuMiKu:** It's his smexyness, at least for me it is XD

**Twilightserius:** Now, _that_, I would pay good money to see…Bakura Vs Sutekh…XD

**Mithryal:** Yeah, Thank you ^_^ I think I might have to start using that name…will have to go back to the first Interlude and fix it, but yeah…

Thanks to **everyone** who reviewed, your words are very much appreciated and liked! -^_^-

See ya all next chapter! ^_^


	21. Confessions

**Chapter Twenty One**

Confessions

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After that faithful night, it had taken Harry at least two days before he could look at Atem straight in the eyes again. The celebrations had of course continued and most people never found out about the attempt on their King's life, but then, they were hardly ever informed of things like that. The young wizard however, had not attended most of the time and when he did, he stayed for less than an hour before scurrying away once again, apparently much too busy to spent time with his friends.

Mana had tried to get him to talk, to find out what his problem was now, but the boy was still much too embarrassed to let her find out about what had happened and so he had remained silent. There was no help offered from either Sutekh or Sashaiti, since their understanding of humans was limited to what Harry explained to them, and he wasn't feeling like explaining this particular sort of situation. The only other person he could freely talk to in this place was also the source of the problem, so he was out by default. All in all, he decided for the old method of keeping his troubles to himself, staying quiet and hoping they would go away. It wasn't particularly productive, but it was the best he could manage.

The Pharaoh had of course apologized profusely the next day, obviously embarrassed and avoiding eye contact as much as Harry himself. The wizard had accepted the apology quickly, not wishing to draw this out any longer, and then they both proceeded to pretend that nothing had happened that night in that hallway. It was working well, as far as Harry was concerned. Or at least it had.

It was now three weeks later and Harry was still avoiding Atem. Three weeks without their usual afternoons spent together, without their idle chatting and joking, three weeks without his friend. It was driving him crazy, to be honest, but the uncomfortable feeling (which he still couldn't really name) he still got when near Atem prevented him from going to find the King and finally put this behind them.

He was being stupid and he knew it. So Atem had kissed him, big deal! The man had been drunk and probably hallucinating about some girl or something, not even realizing that it was Harry. The thought sent a strange pang through his chest, which he promptly ignored. And it even wasn't like it had meant anything to him either, he didn't even like boys…did he? No, of course he didn't! He'd had a girlfriend, before, even if the experience had admittedly been slightly disastrous. And even if he liked boys, he didn't like Atem, not like that! He was starting to hyperventilate.

"What is it about me that it doesn't matter whether I'm in Egypt or Britain, in the ancient past or the twentieth century, my life is still a mess?" He was the only one there to hear his words, for which he was grateful, as for once he didn't have a snake, Ka, or friend with him at the time.

It was rather lonely.

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The Pharaoh must have been sharing his thoughts for a while and finally decided that enough was enough because one week after Harry was mourning the mess that was his existence and exactly one month after that accidental kiss, the man was standing right outside of Harry's door and waiting to be let in. The wizard blinked, momentarily caught off guard by the person who had knocked on his door just a moment ago, but then finally regained his thought process and stepped aside, allowing room for the King to walk inside.

He did, and they both instantly turned away from each other, finding different pieces of the walls utterly fascinating all of the sudden. Harry felt like cursing (in either magical or verbal sense) someone, but had fortunately gained enough self-control in the last few months to squash the urge down…for the moment.

Atem cleared his throat, making Harry turn towards him before even thinking about it. The man had apparently regained his courage to do whatever it was that he came here for in the first place. Harry would never admit it, but the thought made him nervous and…was that excitement? Nah, probably just anxiousness. Blasted teenage emotions, making no sense at all.

"I…I though perhaps we should talk"

Harry couldn't help but notice that even though Atem was looking at him, he wasn't looking into his eyes, and that, for some bizarre reason that perhaps only a very good psychologist could understand, created a tiny spark of anger in the young wizard. He ignored it, of course, and nodded his agreement while discreetly shooting the mostly invisible Sutekh a look that plainly stated 'get out of here' and then proceeding to hiss at Sashaiti to do the same. As much as he loved those two, the constant vigilance they had over him got annoying (maddening more like it) after a while, and this was most certainly something that he didn't want them there for.

"I don't really see why we have to talk about it. You made a mistake, you're sorry, I forgive you. We've already gone through this before" Was it just him or did his voice sound slightly bitter? Curious.

"Then why are you still avoiding me?" For someone who refused to make eye contact, that was very much hypocritical. "I think we still have to talk about…about _it_, because we obviously haven't gotten over it"

The young wizard felt the headache starting, or perhaps it was just the annoyance he felt all of the sudden _'So he kisses me and then just wants to get over it? The insufferable git'_ Nope, just a headache, and he was _not _hearing voices in his head, everything was alright.

Only, it wasn't, and he indeed was annoyed, though he refused to think on why exactly he was annoyed.

"Look, you kissed me, you were drunk, you probably didn't even know it was me, a mistake, end of story. There's nothing to talk about anymore, it didn't mean _anything_" For a moment he wondered if he had slipped into parseltongue by the end of the sentence, because he was sure he was hissing then. Atem's expression, however, clearly indicated that he had understood the words, so it was Egyptian, and that he did _not_ like them. A brief sense of vindictive triumph shot through Harry when he noticed the King's severely annoyed face. It made him wonder why he had always been such a 'goody-goody' boy who refused to take revenge on most people…it sure as hell felt nice to. But then he remembered himself and tried to get his slipping self-control back, lest he start smirking or something, which would probably not make Atem any happier with him.

"It wasn't like that…it…" The King's words seemed to fail him, which wasn't normal for the usually eloquent man. He closed his amethyst eyes and sighed, his shoulders sagging as he released the breath. He looked for all the world like a man about to walk through the gallows and that, for yet another undisclosed reason, made Harry feel dread start to creep in. "It did mean something…to me at least"

And now the wizard was officially and seriously outside of his comfort zone. Not good, this was _not_ good.

"What…what are you trying to say?" He felt his throat suddenly go drier than the Sahara itself and, in sharp contrast, the palms of his hands start to sweat. Scratch that earlier thought, he had passed the limit of his comfort zone a few miles back.

That was when Atem finally seemed to gather enough courage and looked into his eyes. The way that gaze burned with such _passionate_ emotions almost made it seem red for a second, and threatened to burn straight into Harry's heart. "I _did_ know it was you" The wizard felt a gasp escape him, and would have scolded himself for such a reaction had he not been much more preoccupied with the Pharaoh's words "I _wanted_ to do it. I wanted to kiss _you_"

The unspoken words that traveled from one to the other through jewel-like gazes explained things much better than the spoken ones. I'm sorry. I can't help it… I'm sorry too. Don't know what to do... I wanted it. I want it still…Confused. I've never felt like this… I Love…

Harry turned away, breaking the connection that for a moment seemed unbreakable. He placed his arms around himself, drawing comfort from the simple act as he tried to gather his confused thoughts into something coherent. It took titanic effort to do.

"You could have anyone you wanted" He finally declared, his voice low and barely above a whisper. He could practically _feel_ the Pharaoh nod behind him. It was true and the both knew it, because no one would dare deny a Pharaoh, no one except perhaps Harry, a foreigner and magician, a Son of Ra. "Why _me_?" He wasn't even sure if the words were directed at Atem or at the gods, but the former was the one to answer.

"Because of you. Because of how you are to me, how you are to others. Because I feel helplessly drawn to you, have since the beginning" There was a pause then, barely two or three seconds perhaps, but to both of them, it seemed infinite "Because I honestly love you"

Harry's breath left him in one big, dramatic whoosh then. He had never, _never_ heard those words directed at him. He was sure his parents must have spoken them when they were alive, because he didn't doubt for a moment that they had truly loved him, but he had been much too young to remember and anyways, this was vastly, enormously different. Someone who loved him because of him, not because he was Harry-Freaking-Potter, not because of some stupid scar on his forehead, not because he had money or was famous…because of him. Or was it? Maybe he wasn't all those things here, but in this time and life he was regarded as a powerful magician, a respected Priest, a Sa-Ra, the only one who could ever be considered equal to the Pharaoh. Was that perhaps why Atem was interested in him? Because they could be equals? The thought made sense to Harry, and he had to admit that he would probably feel the same way if he were of the King's shoes, but it also brought a stab of pain to his heart.

"You don't know what you're saying" He turned around, to watch the man who was the first to ever declare to love him. It couldn't be true, because love was much too good a thing for him, because he was sure that he could never be seen as truly himself through all of the titles he carried in this life and the past one, because life was never fair "You don't even know me, how can you love me?"

It was true. Atem knew so very little of Harry before his arrival, only that he'd had two best friends, was a student of magic and was orphaned at a young age, but that was about it, and that hardly seemed enough knowledge on a person to claim to love them. It wasn't for lack of trying, though. Atem had carefully tried to nudge clues and little details out of Harry countless of times, but the wizard usually ended clamming up until the Pharaoh finally gave up and stopped.

"That's because you refuse to let out any of your precious little secrets. You never speak of your past and you don't seem like you want to, and that has been eating away at you" The King was still worried about his friend, worried enough to bring this up in a conversation that was already going down a dangerous path.

Harry's eyes narrowed and his muscles tensed at those words, he looked remarkably similar to a snake about to strike. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about, you don't know anything about me or my past so stop mentioning it!" It hurt Harry whenever his past was mentioned, and it hurt even more to hide it like this from someone as close to him as Atem, even if they were having a…severe misunderstanding at the moment.

"I know it's hurting you, and I know you can't go back. I'm trying to help you, because I _care_, that was one of my reasons!" Something in those words Atem said made Harry pause for a second, a memory playing in his head, trying to come to the surface but being a bit too hazy to do so completely.

'_I do have to admit there was another reason' _Atem's voice echoed in his mind, in his memory. Harry's dread started to grow, he had the feeling that this was one of those things that he didn't w_ant_ to know about, but had to anyways. "Reasons for what?"

The calm and slightly cold question seemed to startle Atem momentarily, before he made out the words and a slight glint of panic showed in his eyes. Harry was most certainly not liking this, but he still pressed on when the King didn't respond immediately, even if he was likely to regret it later "Reasons for what, Atem?"

The Pharaoh gave a defeated sigh, and gave up "One of the reasons I made you a Priest"

Harry was expecting it, he had suspected from the moment the echo of the memory surfaced, but it still didn't make sense. Why would a new job, one he hadn't even wanted at first, help him cope with his past? Well, it kept his mind occupied enough to not dwell on it too much, and it gave him a sense of purpose in this new life, but the wizard was almost sure that these were not really the reasons, there was more going on here than he was seeing, and he didn't like that.

"Why? What has that got to do with anything?" But Atem didn't look like he was going to answer anymore, for he once again turned completely away from Harry, his eyes staring at some indefinite point of the wall and his whole body language declaring that he didn't want to talk about it. That only made the wizard even more determined.

"You owe me that much, Pharaoh. Damnnit, you stole a kiss from me, the least you can do is give me one straight answer!" Low blow, and he would willingly admit it, but there was this dark, morbid curiosity and desperation to know, to understand. Atem flinched then, at the slightly cruel words, but this time it wasn't enough to make Harry feel guilty or forgiving. This time he was going to get his answer, one way or another.

"I…Well, when the Thief King died there was, well, there was talk about sending you back to your…your homeland, because you had fulfilled the mission you were sent here for" The feeling of dread was growing, and Harry's stomach felt strangely and uncomfortably heavy, like there was lead in it or something "I knew that the only way they would let you stay and not give you trouble was if you got integrated. That was the second reason"

Harry was stunned for a second, before that and the last shred of his control dissipated into nothingness. That insufferable, insensitive, selfish, egotistical, arrogant, bloody git! His whole body was shaking with barely suppressed anger, the occasional spark of magic becoming visible around him as it circled angrily around the whole room, his eyes were truly and really the same green as the Death Curse, and looked just about as dangerous. Harry was almost angry enough to _kill_, and the Pharaoh was looking like the most likely target.

"You-you selfish, pampered and spoiled _bastard_! So that was it, then? You thought that you could keep me here, all to yourself! You thought that I would be so _grateful_ that the oh-so _generous_ Pharaoh had given me a place in his Court that I would jump into bed with you! Y-you…argh! I thought you were my friend!" Harry felt cheated, used and so, so terribly alone right then.

Atem made a horrified sound and almost chocked on his own breath "Wha…No! Harry, it wasn't like that, it was never like that! I _am_ your friend, I did it to help you!"

But Harry wasn't feeling particularly cooperative right now, nor was he in any mood to listen to anymore of Atem's lies and excuses. "You did it to tie me here, so that I couldn't leave this place! So that I couldn't leave _you_!" The accusation clearly stung the King, or perhaps it was the venom in Harry's voice at the 'you', the boy could be easily compared to his spitting cobra right then "What if I wanted to go back? What then, hmm? I couldn't have, because I had a duty that was never even supposed to be mine! And all because the bloody Pharaoh _wanted_ me"

The aforementioned Pharaoh paled at those words, and his eyes widened as he considered the possibilities that he hadn't considered before "I-I just…you never spoke of it, never attempted to return. I thought…I though you didn't want to" Atem's eyes were downcast as he admitted this, probably not wanting to witness whatever reaction his words would have on Harry's already volatile mood.

He was right to fear, of course, because that certainly did it for the foreign boy. "You _thought_…! You thought I didn't _want_ to go! Bloody hell, Atem! Did it ever occur to you that maybe it wasn't on my hands, that it wasn't my choice…that I _couldn't_ and if the possibility presented itself then I would already be tied down here" The young King's face showed equal amounts of horror and confusion, not understanding, and not sure if he wanted to understand.

"But what…what would keep you from your home like that?" Harry realized then that _of course_ the blasted King wouldn't understand, he had always been a Royal and probably never denied anything, much less access to his own homeland. To Atem it didn't make sense, but to someone like Harry, who had not known a home until he was eleven, it made painful and terrible sense. The feeling of further indignation and outrage that this realization brought was probably the reason he blurted it out like he did.

"I'm from the bloody_ future_, your majesty! I'm not even supposed to be born for a few thousand years yet! My family, my home, my friends, everything I've ever known doesn't even exist yet! That's what keeps me from them. There, now you know, happy?" But Atem was most certainly not happy, in fact, he looked the contrary of happy right now…plus speechless.

Harry took the opportunity that presented itself and quickly grabbed his discarded cloak from a nearby chair, placing it around his shoulder in one quick move, never once turning to look at Atem. The Pharaoh opened his mouth to say something at the same time he placed a hand on Harry's shoulder to try and get his attention. He didn't even get one words out before the other boy had violently slapped his arm away and moved to the other side of the room, near the door. "Don't touch me! And don't talk to me…Ra, I can't even look at you right now" And with that declaration, the younger of the two turned around once again, opened the door, stepped out and slammed the door closed viciously, leaving behind a broken-hearted Pharaoh, an exasperated Ka and a confused snake inside his rooms.

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The young Priest left the Palace and swiftly made his way into the City, wanting to put as much space as possible between himself and Atem without Apparating to America or something. He quickly got lost amongst the many buildings and streets, but that was just fine with him, he didn't feel like being found right now…or ever.

The wizard was fuming, seething, and just about ready to curse someone into the Shadow Realm itself, and that was saying something for the boy who usually wouldn't poke that place with a branch the size of Egypt. He was extremely angry…but he was also devastated. For a moment, perhaps even less than a moment, he had entertained the notion that maybe, just maybe, someone did love him, for the first time that he could remember. But it wasn't true, it couldn't be.

Having his hopes shattered like that hurt horribly, and it was only made worse because it was his own bloody fault. He could have gone along with it, he could have responded to Atem's confession with something similar and then at least he would have known something like love…even if it wasn't all real, even if it was mostly a lie. Ignorance is bliss, after all. But Harry wasn't like that, had never been one to live in a dream and pretend that nothing was wrong with the world, he left that for people like Fudge, and that usually ended up hurting him.

He leant against the wall of one of the small houses and slid down to the ground, his whole body feeling heavy and tired, exhausted even. Almost without realizing it, he raised his knees against his chest and then placed his arms around them, hiding his face in the pristine white robe that covered those knees. He felt the tears of bitterness and despair start to leak out without his consent, but he was much too tired to care right now, so he let them fall.

He was there, wallowing in his own misery and just wanting to be alone, when a voice rang through the little alley he was in, easily reaching him though the sound of his soft breathing and contained sobs.

"Now, what could possibly make a creature such as you cry like that?"

The voice was full of mocking concern, and Harry didn't like it all that, it triggered something in his memories, but his mind was still in turmoil from everything that he had just gone through and couldn't recognize it. He lifted his head just a little, emerald green eyes peeking from the folds of white linen robes, and gasped as he finally saw his current company.

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**Author's Notes:** Man, I never even knew I c_ould_ write romantic drama like that…never have before, that's for sure. Eh, I hope I didn't overdo it or anything, it's just what came out. It's kinda hard, to be honest, writing a love story like this one when I haven't written anything like it before in my whole life…plus, okay so I might be a hopeless romantic and enjoy love stories as much as the next girl, but I've never actually been in love, so it's kinda difficult to write about something you've only heard and read about. Cripes, and I'm getting all sentimental now, blasted chapter is affecting me! Alright, let's move on, people…

Ah, I know some of you might want to kill me because of the cliffhanger, but people put aside the pitchforks and torches or I won't be able to write what happens next ^_ ^

And now, on to the voting!'

Hawk |||||||||||||||||| ||||

Big cat [includes lion, griffin and sable] |||||

Small cat [includes housecat, sand cat and African wild cat] |||||||||||

Phoenix |||||||||||||||||||||||||

Snake [includes obsidian, ivory basilisk and regular snakes] |||

And the winner is **Phoenix**. Thanks to everyone who voted, now we have an animagus form for Harry ^_^

And now, to answer some reviews! ^_^

**DarkLadyIreth:** I'm sorry to say that things are going to get worse before they get better, but they will get better…eventually ^_^U Oh, and it's good that you clarified on what not to break, because knowing me, I might very well have broken bones XD

**Twilightserius:** If that didn't, this chapter certainly did the job. As for the future, well, nothing's written in stone ^_-

**Magician Girl Mirani:** So he is, so he is *nods sagely* XD You know, that might actually be a really good idea…of course, I'd have to explain why Dementors are no longer his greatest fear, but with all the changes that he has been going through, that should be quite easy…poor Harry ^_^U

**Mein Sternchen:** And _now_ the cat is fully and completely out of that bag. I think Harry and Atem were both being a little silly with their reluctance to admit their feelings, and that's what made the explosion on this chapter all the worse. Thank you for your review ^_^

**Deathless Insanity:** He's frightened because he think he'll lose his friendship with him after that kiss ^_^ Oh, and Seth hates him because: they started on the wrong foot, Harry is an unknown and therefore a potential threat, Harry is Mahaad's student and replacement (Seth always seemed to hate Mahaad), and because he and Harry keep trying to drive each other crazy XD

**Pixie dust of doom:** Yeah, Harry's a bit…err, clueless when it comes to relationship stuff and he's always seemed a bit shy to me so I can't really see him kissing anyone just like that, even if he was drunk too...which would have been rather funny, but I also can't see him doing ^_^U Ah, no, that wasn't Bakura…just random assassins #1 , I didn't even give them a name since they would only last that chapter…maybe ^_-

**Sweetcars12:** Thanks ^_^ About Harry becoming an animagus, not yet, I'm afraid, he still needs to find a teacher and learn the transformation but rest assured, it will happen ^_ ^

**Mistress Sayu:** Interesting idea about the criminal, perhaps I can include it in some flashback next chapter…yes, that or the next one would do fine. We'll see ^_- Thank you

**Sharingan-Youkai:** I'm almost literarily rolling on the floor laughing at that XD Oh, about lemons and smut, I really don't think so, I've never written one before in my life…I could try, I guess, but I would probably mangle it horribly, plus I'd like to keep the rating down if possible, which it might not even be in the future U.U

Thanks to **everyone** who reviewed, your words are very much appreciated and liked! -^_^-

See ya all next chapter! ^_^


	22. Silver Tongue

**Chapter Twenty Two**

Silver Tongue

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It was not possible, simply and definitely not possible. Maybe he was seeing things, delusions brought forth by the recent emotional stress and whatnot. But Harry knew better, he knew that even if it seemed impossible, he was not seeing things, because this sort of thing seemed bound to happen to him one way or another. Really, how many enemies of his had come back from the grave already?

The wizard swiftly rose to his feet, tears and broken heart put aside for the moment but not by any means forgotten. _'Stupid, stupid Harry. You just _had _to storm out of the Palace all alone, didn't you?' _Of all the days to leave behind the two almost permanently-glued-to-his-side companions that were Sutekh and Sashaiti, it just had to be the same day he would run into this guy. 'From the frying pan and into the fire' didn't seem a strong enough phrase to describe this.

"You're supposed to be dead" His voice had gone back to its previous coldness, but there were undertones of remaining anger and a sliver of disbelief and perhaps even fear. The last time he had seen this man, his teacher had ended up dead and he and his friends almost buried underneath tons of rock, not a pleasant experience.

The white-haired thief smirked, looking not at all worried at being alone in some alley with one of the Pharaoh's Priests, but then, Harry had never been particularly intimidating and to the guy who had managed to best Mahaad, an Apprentice would probably seem like such a little thing to deal with.

"Did you miss me, magician?" The voice was full of gloating and something else that Harry couldn't identify and didn't want to, this man gave him the creeps.

"Like one misses a bad case of indigestion" Just because he was slightly (very slightly!) afraid of this criminal didn't mean he was going to let it show. Plus, Harry had a lot of experience dealing with psychos and insulting them always seemed to get them angry enough to get sloppy and get him a chance to get away with his life for a little longer. He figured he was on borrowed time already.

The thief, however, didn't seem to take offense at all, and in fact outright laughed at the younger's words. It was a sharp, bark-like laugh, though not at all like Sirius's warmer one, this sounded slightly deranged. The wizard figured it fit the white-haired man perfectly, not to mention that it sent a shiver up his spine. "It's good to see that that blasted Court hasn't broken you of your sense of humor, magician. I was afraid you would be too much like them already"

Sore point for Harry. The young Priest was indeed different from the rest of the Court, in ways that the other perhaps didn't notice but he certainly did. He tried to fully fit in, he really did, but his reluctance to use his own Millennium Item coupled with some of the ideals and morals that had remained from his previous life simply made him clash sometimes, and not only with Seth either (he wouldn't feel bad about _that_, it was rather stress-relieving to annoy that man). He wizard let out a low annoyed growl and raised his hand, ready to blast the thief all the way into the Nile if possible.

"I'll show you exactly how much like them I can be" The Priest's words didn't seem to worry the thief, whose smirk only grew as he raised his own hand. Harry instantly noticed the extended and ready diadhank being pointedly displayed to him.

"Careful, careful, little magician, we wouldn't want my Diabound set loose right here and now, would we?" The thief looked way too amused in Harry's opinion, the guy needed a serious change of attitude and the wizard would be happy to get him one (forcefully and painfully if possible) but one look around him made him reign in the reckless part of his nature. Just outside the alley there was a whole City full of life and people going about their daily lives, full of innocents. It was Harry's job to protect the innocent and if that meant not cursing the thief into oblivion then he would comply…for now.

"I'm not just going to surrender to you, _thief_" The last word was practically spit out, full of hate and contempt. Harry had never been a religious person in his life Before, mostly because the Dursleys had never taught him anything of the sort and the magical world didn't seem to have a religion at all, but he had spent months and months learning about and becoming part of a highly religious society (plus being contacted by a god himself would probably convert even the most skeptic of atheists), and had come to respect and integrate their beliefs into his own. What the Thief King had done, to the very same tomb Harry had been tasked to protect when he took Mahaad's place, was not only sacrilegious and highly disrespectful, it was outright criminal. Stealing a body and robbing a grave was a highly punishable crime even in Harry's own time and to the Egyptians, who firmly believed in Life after Death and a complicated (and sometimes slightly confusing) set of rituals and specifications necessary for reaching that, it was the worst sort of offense someone could make. And as though that wasn't enough to earn Harry's hatred, the Thief King had also been directly responsible for the death of the first teacher he had in this place, a man who was not only a respected mentor and guide, but a friend who was slowly growing closer to him, until his life had been abruptly and untimely cut.

"Such contempt, little magician, one might almost think you hated me" The thief made a notion of dismissal, as though the very idea of Harry hating him was absurd. The wizard wondered for a second if he could cast a cutting curse and wipe out that smug smirk off the man's face (perhaps the whole face if possible too) before the other had a chance to counter attack, but he wasn't willing to risk the thief's Ka being summoned into the City, much less when his own was nowhere around.

"I _do_ hate you, in case it had escaped your notice" The young wizard's scowl suddenly morphed into a darkly amused smirk of his own "Either you have a very short attention span or you are pathetically dimwitted to have missed that" Harry was walking dangerous territory now, but it appeared as though his slightly reckless and extremely brave Gryffindor tendencies were making a momentary return, he really couldn't help it.

That seemed to get the desired reaction on the thief as the man finally showed anger, his smirk turning into an expression better fitting on a snarling wolf, upper lips raised and displaying teeth and everything.

"Careful, boy, or you might just get me angry enough to go on a killing spree" The golden diadhank was once again raised, getting the message to Harry quite clearly.

The younger's jaw clenched, teeth almost grinding by now, and his fingernails were digging into his palms with the strength with which he tightened his fists. He was quite close to verbally cursing himself in his mind for making that comment. This wasn't just between himself and the thief, the people in the City were in danger too, and oblivious to it, and he couldn't let his childish urge to goad his enemies get anyone killed. He didn't think his conscience could deal with yet another innocent's death, not after Cedric and Mahaad.

"Fine. What do you want here?" Almost as soon as he had spoken the question, a realization hit him as he recalled something from the last time he had seen the thief. Instantly, his hand went to grip the golden pendant that rested innocently against his chest. The move was probably futile, because there really was little he could do to protect the Ring on his own, without his Ka's support and standing in the middle of a crowded City with a homicidal maniac, but it was mostly instinctual.

The white-haired thief gave a snort of amusement at that and he sneered at the young magician just for good measure "I'm not here to recover that…yet" Harry did not like the sound of 'yet', nor was he willing to trust a thief's word and drop his guard now. The sneer turned into a rather disturbing leer then, making Harry give an involuntary step back in discomfort "It looks rather fetching on you, little magician"

The poor boy was torn between looking at the thief as though he'd grown another head, blushing, sputtering indignantly, or simply testing his luck and attempting to transfigure the bastard into a toilet (the guy was full of it already!) but ended up having to settle for angry and suspicious glaring.

"Oh? Why did you come here then? Why let me know that you were in the City, you know I'll let the Court know about this and you'll get either chased out, thrown into the dungeons or my personal favorite, thrown to the crocodiles in tiny little pieces" Okay, perhaps it wasn't overly smart to let the bad guy know of your plans to tell on him and have him killed, but the young wizard was at his wit's ends and maybe not really thinking straight. Or maybe Snape had been right all along and he really was a dunderhead, after all, but that was still up to discussion.

"Ha! I don't think you will, magician" The guy looked mighty sure of himself too, and that made Harry all the more uncomfortable. He was _so_ going to get killed in this little alley and have his severed body parts delivered to the Place in the morning, wasn't he? _'Stupid, blasted, bloody big mouth of mine!'_ The thief, however, didn't move or even make further comment on why exactly Harry wouldn't rat him out (as though there really were options, he would have to be either dead or mute not to go tell this to the Court). "I just wanted to have a little talk with you"

And for the second time that day, Harry was violently shoved out of his comfort zone. In his experience, enemies never, ever came to just have a _talk_, unless the talking included incantations to painful and lethal curses of course. He had to admit though, that the white-haired man had had the opportunity to kill him, and break hell loose right in the middle of the city at the same time, since before the wizard was even aware of his presence, but he hadn't. Why? Harry didn't understand it, and not understanding made the whole thing seem more dangerous.

"What in Ra's name could you possible want to talk about with me?" Harry had started to entertain the notion that perhaps he had stepped into some bizarre alternate dimension were mortal enemies had chats over tea and biscuits together. It was the only explanation that made some sort of sense to him right now.

"I'm just worried about you" The man answered simply. Okay, if he wanted to throw Harry off his guard with that, he managed it perfectly. The wizard's mind had reached a level of confusion at this whole bizarre encounter that the thief could have let loose hell and he probably wouldn't have noticed it for a few minutes. But seriously, what in all the gods' names…? _'Worried? Worried…about me? What's wrong with this guy? No, never mind that, what's wrong with _me_? Did I miss something? Did I go make friends with the bloody thief without noticing? Something seriously wrong is going on here'_

"Wha…what are you talking about?" And as though his bizarre admission wasn't enough to confuse the wizard, the thief was also looking concerned, honestly concerned. The alternate dimension theory was starting to look more and more plausible with each passing second.

"I said I was worried about you. And don't make me say it again…it's embarrassing for a thief of my caliber!" Harry blinked. Twice. Nope, the thief was still standing there and had not vanished like a good illusion would have. The man even _sounded_ honest, Harry was almost starting to believe him, which he blamed on the fact that his mind was tired and his emotions still jumbled from all that they'd gone through today.

"I think I'm supposed to ask why, but I'm not sure I'll like the answer" Oh, great, now he was being honest to the thief and outright admitting confusion…his brain must have been more scrambled than he'd thought. The thief answered with a slightly rueful grin, and even _that_ seemed honest, before speaking again.

"You are not my enemy and despite what that _Pharaoh_ and his Court might have filled your head with, I don't want to murder you and bathe in your blood" Under other circumstances, Harry would have taken great offense at the way the thief spat out 'Pharaoh' and jumped to defend his friend, but right now he didn't even know if that friendship had been real at all and wasn't feeling particularly protective of Atem either, so he let it slide and focused on more important things.

"Could have fooled me, especially back in that Temple" The memory of that night's events was enough to make the very slight bit of doubt that had entered his mind about the thief dissolve into nothing, for which he was grateful. The last thing he needed right now was to get lured into a false sense of security with seemingly honest admissions and whatnot.

"I only attacked you to get you out of my way and only after you had summoned your Ka. Trust me, if I had wanted to kill you, you would be long since dead" The thief answered easily, not missing a beat, and not showing any sign of lying.

"Like Mahaad, you mean?" The wizard's voice was full of bitterness and contempt, the memory of his failure to help his teacher still painful and easily filling him with regret. To his surprise, the thief didn't try to mock him or anything at the mention of the other Priest's defeat at his hands, merely looked away and sighed, as though resigned to some unpleasant fate.

"I'm sorry about the Priest, but I didn't kill him. You were there and you saw it, he fused his Ka and Ba together, even knowing the consequences, and he did that willingly" that much was true, Harry had to admit, but Mahaad had only done that because the thief was attacking him in the first place! "He laid a trap for me and he was the one to start the Shadow Game, he knew what he was getting into and knew that one of us wouldn't get out…it just happened to be him instead of me"

The worst part about hearing all that was that Harry knew it was true, he had been there and witnessed it and so he couldn't accuse the thief of lying this time. Like they say, the truth hurt sometimes, and this was one of those occasions. Mahaad had indeed known what he was getting into, had gambled with his own life and ended up losing it when trying to take the Thief King's own, but he had done it for a good reason.

"He did it to save his country from you" Harry's voice sounded sure enough of himself, but it lacked the steely determination from before. Was he starting to believe the thief? No, impossible, even he knew better than _that_…didn't he?

"Please, you are being brainwashed already!" The white-haired thief seemed to have taken offense in Harry's words and jumped to defend himself, gesturing angrily at his own head as he yelled. Strange that the man reacted so little to insults and seemed more offended at something like this, but Harry could hardly claim to understand the guy…or want to. "He did it to save his Pharaoh's good name, to keep me silenced and have their dirty little secret die with me!"

Harry knew he shouldn't, knew that he was probably falling right into a trap, but the Thief King's words had awakened his curiosity. He shouldn't believe the man, and even if the Court indeed turned out to have a secret, he shouldn't want to know. He was supposed to trust them, and a criminal's words were most certainly not supposed to break that trust. He was part of the Court, some of them were his friends and the others were at the very least comrades and he was not supposed to let anyone, much less this particular criminal, badmouth them. But after everything that he had just found out about Atem and his motives, after the wounds to his heart that had created, he just couldn't help but wonder what if…

"I…that's not true! They don't keep secrets from me and they wouldn't do anything bad enough to be considered a 'dirty little secret'" But Harry wasn't sure of his own words, after all, he had seen the way criminals were dealt with by the Court, it was slightly...barbaric, but he hadn't dwelt on it and told himself that this was normal for a civilization thousands of years younger than his own. His self-convincing wasn't helping right now, though.

"Pfft! You think they're all the 'good guys', no? That they are righteous and honorable and all that rot, but the truth, little magician, is that your precious Court is nothing but a bunch of murderers covering up for more murderers!" The thief's eyes glinted with hatred and malice, but Harry was surprised to find that they were not directed at him, but to some ghost image of memory that only the thief could see. And behind all that malice and hatred, behind what he had always thought the Thief King was, the wizard could see something horrifyingly familiar, something he sometimes still saw in his own eyes…grief and loss. That surprised him enough to keep his mouth shut and let the white-haired man bring himself back from his thoughts and continue to explain.

"The previous Pharaoh and his Court were power-hungry killers, they had my whole village, one _whole village_, murdered in cold blood because we didn't fit with their ideals of a 'better world'. Everyone I knew, my family and my friends, were wiped out in one single night…right in front of my eyes" Harry felt a gasp escape him and, unbidden, compassion rise in his heart. The young wizard still had nightmares of the night his own parents were killed, could still hear his mother scream for Voldemort not to harm him, to kill her instead. No one should have to go through something like that, not even a bloody Tomb Robber. "And then, to add insult to the injury, they used their deaths as sacrifice to increase their own power. They said I desecrate the dead! They did it first with my own family!" Harry's blood froze in his veins at that, and he almost expected to find a dementor gliding in from somewhere, so strong was the feeling of cold dread. That kind of thing could only be accomplished with a magical ritual, and the rituals that did that could only be of the darkest kind, perhaps even mixing Shadow magic or something alike. In Harry's experience only Dark and Shadow magic required unwilling sacrifices like that, and he was still not sure which of the two options would be the worst. Shadow magic in and of itself was not dark or evil, it could be used for many purposes, but it was much more dangerous and had terrible consequences to those who messed with it and made a mistake. Dark magic could only be used to inflict pain and death, to destroy but never to create, but it was much easier to harness and control and much more predictable too.

The thief gave a few quick steps and before Harry knew it, the man was standing right in front of him. The wizard barely contained a surprised yelp as he tried to move away from the surprisingly fast thief, but the white-haired man took hold of the Ring before Harry could escape. The wizard knew that he couldn't let the thief get away with the Item, it would only make him all the more dangerous and threatening to the people he was still trying to protect. If it was necessary, he would fight against the Thief King and his Diabound for it, like Mahaad had done before him. One of his hands gripped the cord that held the Millennium Ring, trying to tug it away from the thief's fingers, while the other was raised and pointing straight at the other man's chest, ready to at least _Stupefy_ him. The criminal, however, didn't attempt to take the Ring off him, didn't do more than hold it, so Harry held his magic and watched carefully, waiting for the slightly older man to make one wrong move and give him an excuse to fire first.

"This thing you wear so proudly around your neck, this and the Items that your Court all claim for themselves were made of blood and death. _This_ is the result of that massacre"

Harry felt bile wanting to rise up his throat at those words. Suddenly, the Ring didn't look golden at all, and instead seemed a ghastly mix of white bones and unidentifiable bloody tissue. He wanted it _off_ and as far away from him as possible, but the more logical part of his mind refused to let him do anything about it. It could still be a trap, for all he knew, and the Thief King could very well be waiting for him to take the blasted thing off before making away with it. Harry had to admit, though, that if the man had really wanted the Ring all along, he would have had a much better chance of getting it when he was too busy stupidly crying over Atem to notice him. The criminal hadn't taken the opportunity, though, and he had not done anything to hurt Harry so far, and that only made the whole thing even worse, because it gave credibility to the horrifying story, because it made Harry believe him.

The tale sounded so much like something Voldemort would do, so similar to the things he already had done, that Harry could almost feel a spark of hate rise in him at that. If the thief was being truthful, then his family had been murdered because the Pharaoh didn't think they fit in this world, just as Voldemort had muggleborns and blood traitors murdered because he thought they polluted the wizarding world. So similar, so terrible, so common in the history of humanity that Harry sometimes felt helpless at it. Why did people insist on killing each other? Why were humans so bloody a race? Sutekh was right, humans really were stupid if they did things like this to themselves.

He turned away, no longer having the courage to look into the thief's eyes anymore. "It was before I even came here, and it was before _this_ Court. The people who hurt you are already dead" That much was true, and Harry drew some comfort in that, knowing that he was not helping the people who had ordered such a massacre, knowing that he wasn't part of a Court with such bloodstained hands.

The thief snorted in disbelief and took a couple of steps back, letting go of the Ring and giving Harry some personal space back "The son is no different from the father, and this Court is hardly different from the last one" The man turned in the direction of the Palace, throwing a hateful glare at it before turning back to Harry, his grey eyes seeking the younger's green ones, which still refused to meet them. "Except for you, magician"

Normally Harry would be less than pleased with his differences to the rest of the Court being so boldly pointed out, mostly because a great part of him resented being a foreigner, not fitting into the only home he had in this time…but now, with such accusations being made, part of him was relieved at being separated by those differences from the Court, not that he would ever admit this to the thief.

"You don't know anything about me" The words were so similar to the ones he had spoken to Atem just a little while ago that they hurt "I could be just like them and you have no way of knowing" His hands were almost shaking by now, he released his hold on the cord of the Ring and finally lowered the hand threatening the thief. Memories of the times he had seen the Court deal with those they considered criminals came to the surface of his mind, tormenting him with the possibility of the Thief King being right.

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**Flashback**

_It was the morning after the assassination attempt and accidental kiss. The throne room had been temporarily closed even though of the festivities, which confused Harry greatly when he arrived there just a little after sunrise, having received a message that his presence was required for Court business. _

_The two guards at the doors opened them for him and closed them back as soon as he had stepped into the room. As expected, the whole Court and the Pharaoh were already there. For some reason, Harry was almost always the last to arrive and he had started to consider the possibility that there were secret passageways leading to the throne room that the other Priests didn't tell him about. It was the other occupant of the room that surprised Harry. It was one of the assassins from yesterday. _'The one that survived'_ the thought made Harry feel a stab of guilt pierce at his heart, but he tried to squash the feeling down. Shadow Games were usually lethal, and it was the other man who had chosen to gamble with their lives, it wasn't Harry's fault. It really wasn't._

"_As you should know, this Court deals with the worse criminals on its own" Seth's voice rang clearly through the vast room, the undertone of scorn in the other's voice let Harry knew that he didn't think the wizard knew this even though he should. Seth didn't really have a much too good opinion of Harry as Priest and mostly only tolerated him. The wizard only nodded in understanding, not lifting his sight because he dreaded having to look at Atem after what happened last night (and he didn't mean the assassination attempt and following Shadow Game)._

"_Since you are the newest member of the Court and cannot possibly have grown used to the powers of your Millennium Item, you will only be a witness in this Judgment" Harry tensed slightly at that. It was true that he didn't even know how to use his Ring, never had before in fact, but that was mostly because he refused to even try. He didn't like the Items, hadn't since the very first moment he saw them (probably had something to do with almost being bashed in the head with the Rod and then having his magic bound by six of them). _

_And with that Seth turned away from him and placed his attention back on the bound man kneeling in front of the Court. Harry couldn't help but notice that the man's eyes looked dead, resigned and fearful all at once. It sent shivers up his back. The man looked like he knew death was coming for him any second now, but he couldn't do anything to stop it. Harry only hoped they weren't going to execute him right here and now, because he wasn't sure if he could stand to watch that. Oh, the man was sure to die, and everyone knew that, because no one who made such an attempt on the Pharaoh's life could be permitted to live, but Harry refused to watch such sentence being carried out._

_And so Harry watched, half fascinated and half dreading, as the Judgment started. The criminal was not going to judged by the Court itself, or at least not the humans in the Court, but by the Millennium Items themselves. It reminded the youngest Priest quite a bit of a Shadow Game, but he kept his thoughts to himself and observed. The Key to look into the man's heart and see his Ka, the Scales to measure the evil in his soul, the Eye to reveal the true form of the Soul-Beast inside and finally the Rod. A stone tablet had been brought in, and Harry had kept his gaze firmly away from it, as the thing reminded him too much of the sealed Magician that Mahaad now was, but when the Rod got to work, he simply couldn't tear his eyes away from the once blank and smooth stone. He had know of this, of course, because Atem and even Mahaad had told him exactly where the tablets in the Shrines came from, souls of criminals forced into eternal servitude with the very people they had committed the crime against. He had known, but he had never seen it before, and he hoped never to again._

_The Ka was sealed into the stone tablet, screaming in rage and defiance all the while, and Harry's eyes watched, wide and scared, as this happened. He couldn't help but feel horrified, of thinking about what that man must be going through, being so violently ripped away from his Ka, from a part of his very soul. Perhaps it was just that Sutekh 'uniqueness' had only served to bring the Ka and his mortal much closer than normal (and that is saying a lot when you are basically different pieces of one whole), and that Harry had grown so used to the Magician's constant presence around him, that he couldn't imagine life without his Ka now, and didn't want to._

_And speaking of Sutekh, the Soul-Creature seemed even more horrified than Harry himself. His red eyes watched Seth with newfound suspiciousness and the slightest hint of hidden fear. It was clear to the young Priest that his Ka was not appreciating this show and Harry really couldn't blame him, having to watch one of his own kind being sealed like that and all, to Sutekh it was probably worse than watching a murder was for Harry._

"Never enrage this people, summoner"_ Harry wholeheartedly agreed._

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But he wasn't. He wasn't like them, and he probably never would be. No matter how used he got to his life in Egypt, and to the things that were necessary and accepted here, he had not been raised as they had and so he didn't think as they did. He was different, but that didn't make him better or worse than them, merely stranger. And even if he didn't want to, he was, for probably the first time, thankful for that difference.

"But you're not" Apparently his words couldn't fool the thief anymore than they could fool himself. The white-haired King of Thieves suddenly leaned in and lowered the hood of Harry's cloak, letting the young Priest's raven hair be touched by the sun. The man brushed his fingers across the fine linen and even touched the golden amulet around his neck. Harry was decidedly uncomfortable with the (non-existent) distance between them, but this time didn't do anything about it, perhaps he was growing immune to the thief. "It doesn't matter if you dress like one of them, or talk like one of them and act like one of them. You aren't one of them. You are a foreigner, you are someone who doesn't fit in…like me" The man paused for a second, releasing his hold on the fabric of the Priest's cloak, but not stepping back this time "You and I have so much in common, my little magician"

The man's voice was practically purring at the end, but he reminded Harry more of a caged panther, dangerous and unpredictable but graceful and majestic all the same, than a house cat. The wizard had to fight down the urge to gulp.

"I don't have anything in common with you. You're a Tomb Robber and I'm a Priest" The answer was mostly automatic rather than thought out, but Harry was desperate for something to say and get the thief the hell away from him. What was it with other males suddenly intruding on his personal space like this? The thief offered a condescending laugh at the boy's words.

"You're hardly a Priest. You're being used, magician, and you don't even realize it" The accusation brought forth the still more than fresh memory of Atem's so-called reasons and the betrayal he had felt when he found out. Was it true, then? Was he being used just as he was being kept for the Pharaoh's amusement, like some sort of pet? Harry didn't want to believe it, wanted to forget that this conversation with the thief ever happened and that his trust in the Court and the Pharaoh had ever been shaken…but he couldn't. Because what if it was true? Harry was no stranger to things not being what they seem, had experienced stuff like that since he was a child living with a supposedly 'normal' family who locked him a bloody cupboard. He knew that sometimes the supposedly dangerous and deranged criminal was the good guy, and the hero who supposedly died bravely was the bad guy. What if it was the case here? What if this time the Thief King was Sirius, and the Court and Pharaoh were Pettigrew? It would mean that almost everything he had believed in since his arrival here was a lie, that his life here was a lie, and he didn't know if he could handle losing another life like that.

He opened his mouth, not even sure what he was going to say, but feeling the need to respond somehow. He didn't get the chance to, though, as a noise from the street connecting with the alley drew his and the thief's attention. Guards. There were several of the Palace guards apparently looking for something in the city, and coming dangerously close to their alley. Harry felt more than saw the Thief King tense, since they were still uncomfortably close, and felt a bizarre sort of guilt enter his heart. Was the thief going to be captured because of him? He must be going mental, because for some reason the thought didn't please him at all, most likely because of all the recent revelations and stories told. Then he saw someone he recognized walk by, apparently directing the guards. Shada was here.

"Damn it! Some idiot must have recognized me and alerted your Court" The thief's voice made Harry turn away from the sight of the guards and fellow Priest and towards him. The man had once again raised his arm, diadhank extended and ready to summon his Ka in order to fight with the other Priest. And Harry, for some reason that he couldn't understand but would blame on his reckless nature, placed a hand on that arm, stopping him and doing what he did best: think on his feet.

"No, actually I think they're looking for me. I had a…misunderstanding with someone and stormed out before coming here. Shada and the other must have decided to look for me" He didn't know if it was true, but he hoped to Ra that it was, because if they were indeed after the thief then things were likely to get explosive…literarily. The wizard moved quickly and unclasped his white cloak, removing it before swiftly throwing it into the white-haired man's arms "Put that on and get out of the City, use the connecting alleys if you can. Don't come back" and with that, the wizard turned away and started to walk out of the alley, ready to distract the guards and go back to the Palace. He was stopped by a hand firmly gripping his forearm and turned back to the thief.

The man looked honestly surprised, but quickly hid it behind a pleased smirk "You're helping me escape, magician. Why?" He sounded much too smug, in Harry's humble opinion. The wizard snorted at the words, almost disbelieving.

"Don't kid yourself. I spent the last half hour putting up with you so that you wouldn't summon that monster of yours and demolish half the City, I'm not having my sacrifice be wasted just because some guards happen to be wandering around. Now go away and don't come back" He tried to sound as firm as he could and it seemed to work quite well, so much that he was almost convinced by his words. The Thief King's smirk only widened, as he apparently didn't share Harry's belief in those words, and then the man went and did something that the wizard would have indeed blasted him for, threats of murderous Ka or not. He kissed him. Admittedly, it was a hurried kiss on his cheek, but it would have given the young Priest good enough excuse to harm the other if he had managed to react quick enough.

"I'll visit you sometime and return this, my little magician"

When Harry turned, ready to at least give the Thief King a piece of his mind (and preferably to wipe the smug smirk he _knew_ the other had clean off his face in a most painful way) the man had already vanished. The wizard gave a low growl on annoyance and proceeded to walk out of the alley, trying not to stomp his feet like a tantrum-throwing child. He was _that_ annoyed. What was it with people kissing him all of the sudden? This had never happened before in his life, he had kissed someone _once_ before coming here and that was someone he'd been crushing after for a year, so it didn't really surprise him quite as much as the more recent ones.

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The Thief King watched from the shadows of another alley as his little wizard went to the other Priest and they conversed for about a minute before both started to make their way back to the Palace, guards following after them. He smirked as he placed the white cloak around him, clasping it carefully to keep it around his shoulders.

That had been much more fun than he had thought it would, and his magician had fallen for it hook, line and sinker, even if the boy refused to acknowledge it yet. The mere fact that he had helped the most wanted criminal (if he wasn't thought to be dead) escape was proof enough that he was willing to go against his Court and his Pharaoh, and that was one very pleasant thought to the thief. The boy would make one very good ally and he was already being convinced, one or two more pushes and the poor little Priest would find himself firmly in his clutches. That was why he hadn't taken the Ring, even if the urge to do so was great and the chance simply magnificent, because he wanted the magician to willingly _give_ it to him. And he would…sooner or later.

There was a part of the King of Thieves, manifested as an inner voice in his head, which insisted that he was losing his time with the boy and that claiming the Items for himself as quickly as possible was much more important than corrupting the little magician. He ignored it, though, because playing with the boy was much too fun and his life had been getting dull ever since his supposed death.

The man walked out of the City without worry or care, no one recognizing him under the hood and cloak of one of their dear Priests. He would be back soon enough, for he still had more games to play with that little magician. The Thief King licked his lips, he could hardly wait.

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**Author's Notes:** And that was rather interesting to write ^_^ I don't know about you guys, but I've always thought that one of Bakura's greatest strengths was his ability to deceive people so easily…I mean, he spend like half of the first and second seasons pretending to be Ryou and everyone believes him, if that's not one Oscar-worthy actor, I don't know what is! ^_^U Ah, well, the plot is thickening and I promise next chapter will be very, very interesting, especially for those of you who, like me, enjoy a good bit of conflict XD

Oh, and thanks to **Mistress Sayu **for the idea that inspired the flashback on this chapter ^_^

And also, and this is **IMPORTANT**, I'm in serious need of everyone's opinion on the little matter that is Bakura's name. If I remember correctly, I called him Bakura back in _"Interlude: The Thief King" _but to be quite truthful, it makes little sense to me that the man has the same name in Ancient Egypt than he does in modern Japan so I have been considering calling him Akefia here, which seems to be the most accepted as the name he had back in Egypt. So, what do you think…Bakura or Akefia?

And now, to answer some reviews! ^_^

**Lientjuhh:** I'm sorry to hear about that operation. Hope you're feeling better today, though ^_^

**Magician Girl Mirani:** I have to say that makes very good sense ^_^ And romance…I have to say it's really fun to read about, but writing it is, while still fun, quite complicated. I've got quite a new bit of respect for romance writers now *nods sagely* ^_^

**Yami no Kaze:** They do, they do…but now the Thief King is trying to break them up before the relationship even starts. I'm starting to think I'm an evil writer ^_^U

**DarkLadyIreth:** thank you ^_^ Oh, like I said, things will get better for them eventually but as always, it is only calm before and after the storm and we're just starting to enter said storm now ^_-

**JuMiKu:** I'd say that it's because it's Harry, and everything in Harry's like is complicated, but love is like that in and outside stories XD

**CatgirlKitsune:** Um…okay, I didn't even know I had a record, much less that I was staining it with a vote, of all things…but thanks for your opinion anyways.

**Sweetcars12:** Guessed it in one ^_^

**Sharingan-Youkai.:** The albino with a tan *snickers* even I would sooo not call him that to his face ^_^U Ah, well, that is an interesting idea indeed…hmn, I suppose I could make an account on AFF if it came to that, but let's wait till the story gets to the part where there's an actual relationship first ^_^

**Lucifer's Advocate7**: Thank you, I'll check it out ^_^

Thanks to **everyone** who reviewed, your words are very much appreciated and liked! -^_^-

See ya all next chapter! ^_^


	23. Truth Seeker

**Chapter Twenty Three**

Truth Seeker

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Night had finally fallen in the land of Egypt, making Harry almost desperately wish that the dying day would take all the problems it had brought away. He wished that the talk with Atem, which was supposed to repair the falling bridge between them and had instead burned it down and scattered the ashes, had never happened and so that he had never gone like a bloody idiot into the city and ran into a dangerous and supposedly dead criminal, and as though that hadn't been enough 'excitement' (Harry himself preferred to call it 'drama and tragedy') the once unshakable trust he'd had in the Pharaoh and his Court had suffered several cracks that threatened to grow and break it if he wasn't careful.

He sat now on one side of his comfortable bed, too tired to do anything else, but much too tense to go to sleep just yet. He was currently gazing at the moon though the window in his bedroom, lost in his thoughts, as he gently stoked Sashaiti's head, finding some comfort in the simple action. Sutekh was on the other side of the room, leaning against a wall nonchalantly, but with his eyes firmly trained on Harry, almost as though expecting him to suddenly try to throw himself out of the window or something. The wizard ignored him for the moment.

"_Are you finally going to tell me what happened today, or will you continue with your brooding?" _The Ka's voice easy broke through the silence of this quiet night, making it impossible for Harry to ignore him any longer.

"I told you already…it was nothing" The words didn't sound convincing, even to himself.

"_Not even you act like this over nothing. I am not going to beg you for information, human, but if you are in danger then I need to know, because it means I am in danger too"_ The Soul-Creature sounded quite annoyed with his summoner's reluctance to speak.

Harry supposed that annoyance was to be expected, since Sutekh usually knew everything that had happened to him during the day, mostly because the stubborn Ka tended to follow him around at all times, but now he found himself in the dark. Put that together with the young Priest's current behavior and it was only understandable that the Magician was angry and probably even worried. Harry had found that Sutekh could turn into a real mother hen when the mood stuck him…admittedly, a mother hen who yelled at him for being a 'senseless, idiotic, danger-seeking human', but it was the thought that counted.

The wizard considered telling his Ka of what had happened after he had asked him to leave the room. Sutekh had been nice, or as nice as he could be, and hadn't spied on the conversation between him and Atem, so the Magician didn't even know about that, much less the little talk with the Thief King. He and Sutekh were mortal and Ka, two different parts of one whole, and supposed to be teammates, partners. If he couldn't trust his own Ka, then who?

"What do you think of the Court?" He finally blurted out, almost without thinking it.

He didn't really want to share his recent conversations, and this seemed like a good enough way of testing out Sutekh's thoughts on the matter without even revealing said matter beforehand. He knew that his Ka didn't share his own loyalty to the Court, for Sutekh himself had once mentioned that he was loyal to Harry and Harry alone, as all Ka were, and that meant that he wasn't weighed down by said loyalty when making judgments. This didn't necessarily mean that he was an impartial judge, because Harry was pretty sure his Ka carried a grudge against the Court ever since they'd witnessed their first Judgment and the following Sealing. It wasn't really that Sutekh was feeling protective of his own kind, since most Ka were used to fighting and trying to kill each other, but Sealing was a whole different thing, and Sutekh had an unspoken fear of it. No, his Soul-Creature was hardly the voice of reason, but it would still be nice to hear his thoughts.

Sutekh seemed startled for a second, obviously not having expected such a question being asked of him, and certainly not now, when they were discussing something else entirely, but he soon went back to his trademark nonchalance, his eyes finally leaving Harry and joining his summoner's in gazing at the night sky.

"_The other humans do not matter to me, so I have no opinion on them"_ He was lying through his teeth and they both knew it.

The more time the Magician spent in the Human Realm, the more human-like he became and acted, even if he was willing to deny it until the end of time. It wasn't really noticeable, because it happened really slowly and in very subtle ways, but he and Harry spent basically every waking moment together and if someone was bound to notice, it was the wizard. Lying, for example, was a very human thing to do, but so was judging others and making opinions, sometimes even without meaning to. Sutekh had to have some thoughts on the Court, he just didn't feel like sharing them.

"I'm not telling you what happened until you tell me what you think of them" Harry said, his emerald gaze leaving the moon and turning to Sutekh.

Ah, good old blackmail. There might have been a time when Harry wouldn't have turned to blackmail unless it was the direst of situations and there was no other way out, but the wizard had since learned to see it as a useful tool, especially when dealing with someone as hardheaded as Sutekh.

The aforementioned Ka narrowed his red-on-yellow eyes, obviously not appreciating Harry's negotiations at all. His desire to know what had happened while he wasn't with his summoner must have been great, though, because he finally gave in.

"_They are loyal to your Pharaoh, perhaps to the point of…what is the word? Ah, yes, fanaticism. They will do anything to protect said Pharaoh, and to carry out his orders. It is my opinion, summoner, that they are dangerous"_ Sutekh's voice was serious and firm and he seemed to word his thoughts carefully _"Humans as a whole are dangerous, you all have the potential for much destruction, after all. However, a human with a cause to fight for, or a person to fight for, is all the more threatening, because sometimes they are willing to either die or kill for that"_

Suetkh's words were all true, and it was slightly surprising that someone who had spent such a relatively short amount of time amongst humans could already understand their basic nature like that, but they were hardly fair. Harry himself was part of the Court, after all, and their cause was also his. Did that make him dangerous as well?

At that thought, the memory of that Shadow Game swiftly replayed itself on his mind, almost making him wince as he realized the answer to his own question. Yes, he was dangerous. He had killed a man to protect the Pharaoh and himself, and had been basically regarded a hero for it, praised and all. A hero, when he was only a killer, really.

"_Are you going to tell me now? You gave your word_" Sutekh's slightly annoyed voice broke him out of his thoughts.

Harry gave a rueful smile, turning away from his Ka's suspicious eyes to gather his thoughts before answering.

"The Pharaoh thinks he is in love with me" Saying it himself brought strange and contradicting feelings, which he did not pause to analyze at all, scared of what he would find.

Harry could practically _feel_ Sutekh's confusion at this. Even though of the rather impressive understanding the Ka now had of humans and their behavior, love was obviously something that escaped the grasp of said understanding. Harry didn't really blame him, since he himself was human and had spent most of his life in the Human Realm (bar a short and unpleasant trip to the Shadow Realm) and could still not understand it either. Perhaps it simply was not meant to be understood.

"_Is that a bad thing?"_ The question seemed reluctantly asked, as though Sutekh wasn't sure if he even wanted to know.

Harry snorted "It is in this case. It's the reason he made me a Priest, to keep me here and keep me close" There was a bitterness in Harry's voice that was unusual on the wizard these days, that hadn't been there since his breakdown and following determination to make a new life.

It hurt, Harry realized, not only because he had honestly treasured Atem's friendship a lot, but because it also meant that he probably didn't even deserve the rank of Priest. If it hadn't been for his…crush on Harry, would Atem have still offered it to him, with or without Mahaad's request? He couldn't know, and that only made it worse. Harry had enough of being 'special', of being treated differently because of things he had no control over. He'd had to put up with that in his own time, and now found himself going through the same thing here…it was enough to drive a man crazy.

"_Is that all?"_ Sutekh questioned, probably trying to steer the conversation away from something so confusing to him.

"No" Harry admitted reluctantly, pausing for a moment to gather his courage before moving on "When I went into the City I met with someone there, someone you've met before"

Sutekh made a noise of annoyance that rather clearly stated 'well, spit it out already!' which the Ka was much too proud to actually voice. Harry would probably have been amused at it, it the situation wasn't so serious.

"The Thief King was there and had a little chat with me"

He heard Sutekh grumble something that he was pretty sure was an expletive, and momentarily wondered where his Ka had learned such language, before said Ka's voice brought his attention back to the current conversation.

"_The only reason I was even summoned in the first place was because this 'Thief King' was trying to kill you. Why would you believe anything that man said?"_ Sutekh sounded both frustrated and confused at his summoner's behavior.

Harry had to admit that it didn't really make much sense to him either. The thief was a dangerous criminal, and he was bound to be a good liar at the very least, but he still believed him. Why? Perhaps it was that his trust in the Pharaoh had already taken a blow so soon before said talk; or maybe that his story was believable to Harry, who was no stranger to people massacring each other for power; or maybe all the craziness in his life was finally getting to him. Harry considered the possibility that it was a mix of it all, which was the most likely.

"I don't know, but I do believe him…mostly. He said that the previous Pharaoh and his Court murdered his family, his whole village, and made these" He took the Millennium Ring, which suddenly felt much heavier than ever, in his hand, showing it to Sutekh "And he said that Atem is no different, and that the Court is trying to kill him to keep the secret of the Items' creation just that, a secret. He wants revenge"

And Harry could understand that, wanting revenge, for he felt much the same way towards the Dark Lord. Voldemort had killed his family, he wasn't even sure why, but he had, and that was something Harry would never forgive, something he was honestly willing to kill over. And he did want Voldemort dead, by his own hand if at all possible, of that there had never been any doubt. Were he and the thief so different then? Both were seeking revenge for their dead families, both were fighting against a leader and his followers. So similar that it was honestly scary.

"_And you do not know what to do"_ It was a clear affirmation, not a question, and made it obvious that Sutekh knew his mortal quite well by now.

Harry simply sighed and nodded in affirmative, not willing to voice it, perhaps afraid of what the Ka would say, or of being thought of as a stupid human once again. He wasn't even sure why exactly it was, but Sutekh's opinion mattered a lot to the young wizard.

"_Use your head for once, human. Talk to the Court, try to understand them, get answers from them without asking the question outright. And for your own sake, you had better be subtle about it" _

Harry blinked in surprise. It sounded so easy when Sutekh said it like that, and he had to admit that this seemed a rather good option. He couldn't do anything until he knew a bit more of the situation he was in, and his knowledge of the events that happened in Egypt before his arrival was minimal. He had to find out more about the Items, and about the Court, and the only ones with the answers were the Court themselves and the Pharaoh, who Harry was currently perfectly happy to never talk to again, especially after having admited to be from the future. All in all, it was a sound idea, and one that he was willing to try tomorrow, as it was much too late now.

Harry gave a slight, relieved smile, and nodded again. He finally picked the now sleeping Sashaiti up, placing her on the other side of the bed, where there was less risk that he would squash her in the night and get a face full of venom for it, before laying down, settling himself for the night now that there was a possible solution to at least part of this whole mess.

He turned to Sutekh, noticing that the Ka had settled himself to stand guard close to the bed, as he did every single night, and sent him a grateful look. Who knew Sutekh would come in handy as advisor like this?

"Goodnight, Sutekh"

With that said, he turned away from his Ka, resting his head against his pillow and half-burying himself in the covers, since Egyptian nights could get surprisingly chilly. He was almost asleep, lulled by the peace and quiet of his room, when the unmistakable sound of Sutekh's whispering voice broke the silence, barely even reaching him.

"_Goodnight, Harry"_

And just for tonight, things didn't seem quite so bad. He was sure that this would change come morning, when his mind would recall all the trouble he had somehow gotten himself into again, but for now he was, if not happy, then at least content.

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The next day had started normally enough or at least as normal as it could be considering everything that happened yesterday, but Harry was trying to not think too much on that. He had gone through his morning routine constantly trying to steer his own thoughts from the less than pleasant topic, failing most of the time but unwilling to give up.

It was mid morning now and he was currently spending time with Mana in one of the Palace's courtyards. The two of them had come to an agreement some time ago, that Mana would teach him how to use magic her way and Harry would repay by teaching her the spells he had learned at Hogwarts, sort of cultural exchange, he supposed. It had been decidedly hilarious to try and get her to pronounce 'wingardum leviosa' correctly. The Latin incantations seemed to work perfectly well, no matter how you practiced the magic. Harry supposed that this was because magic itself was too great a thing to be limited by something as inconsequential as human language.

He was currently trying to learn a spell for fire, very useful according to Mana, but his thoughts weren't really on it. Harry was dreading having to talk with the Court, as Sutekh had suggested yesterday, even though he knew it was the only way his fears would be put to rest, and that wasn't allowing him to concentrate on his work now.

"Something wrong? You look very distracted, Harr-Haru" Mana's voice conveyed her slight worry over her friend, who had been acting strange for quite some time now "I'm boring you, aren't I?" Soft concern turned into mild annoyance and accusation then, at the notion that she was boring.

Harry almost felt tempted to laugh. Trust dear little Mana to find the highest insult in 'boring'. The wizard gave a shake of his head, both denying the accusation and expressing his slight exasperation at being accused in the first place.

An idea entered his mind all of the sudden then. Mana was his friend, a close and dear friend who had never lied to him so far, and a good source of knowledge if you asked nicely enough. Now, the girl wasn't an Item holder, or even a member of the Court, but she had basically grown in the Palace and had been friends with Atem and Mahaad since childhood, so she was bound to know at least something. And she was much easier to talk to than his fellow Priests, more open and less suspicious. Yes, he decided, she might be able to help.

"I've just been a bit distracted lately. I guess it's all the work piled up on me" He gave her a slight reassuring smile at the end, before turning away and looking really reluctant to keep talking "That and I…well, I've been worried about this" He gestured vaguely to the golden Ring he always carried with him nowadays.

Mana looked slightly surprised "Mahaad's Ring? Why?"

Harry almost flinched at that, as he always did whenever she called the blasted thing that. To Mana, and maybe even to him, the Ring would always belong to Mahaad and anyone else were just temporary owners, so she always called it just that, Mahaad's Ring. And even though he was used to hearing it, it still bothered Harry a lot, because it made him feel as though he had stolen it from his teacher or something. He sighed and decided to, as always, make no comment on her choice of words.

"The Items are really powerful, right?" He paused there for a second, until Mana nodded her agreement and he continued "Well, how am I supposed to protect something so powerful when I really don't know anything about it. I don't understand the Items at all, not even though I carry this one with me all the time"

His green eyes then locked into Mana's similarly colored ones, and he felt as though he was pressing her for answers. Mana looked a bit uncomfortable with the topic, and no one could really blame her, for the Items were a delicate subject even at the best of times.

"Do you know more about them? Maybe how they were made, or how they really work?" He prodded, trying to remain calm even though he was almost desperate to know.

Mana sighed and looked away, taking a lock of her brown hair and twisting it around a finger nervously. It was plainly obvious that she didn't like this conversation and would rather talk about anything other than it, but she didn't try to evade the question or change the subject.

"I don't know, I don't think anyone really knows and if they do, they are not going to tell. All knowledge of how the Items were made was sealed, as far as I know, when the Prince's father was still alive. It's forbidden knowledge now and no one talks about it, not even the Prince"

Harry sighed, disappointed and worried. Why was the knowledge sealed? Was it because the Pharaoh hadn't wanted to risk anyone else recreating the Items and using them for evil, or against his kingdom? Or was it perhaps because he didn't want the sacrifice the Thief King had spoken of to become known? He was confused and conflicted, and this talk wasn't helping.

"Thanks anyway. I suppose I'll just have to go along with it"

Mana only nodded, still looking a bit uncomfortable, and that was the end of that conversation.

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Harry's next opportunity to find out more about the Items presented itself when he unexpectedly met with Shada, having almost bumped into the man in a hallway without even realizing he was there. The older Priest fortunately managed to avoid such collision and chuckled softly at the younger's hurried apology.

"It is quite alright. You seem lost in your thoughts, though, is something troubling you?" The Priest asked, his voice showing that he was honestly interested in knowing, and not just asking out of politeness.

Shada was a serious sort of person, but he had always been nice and fair to Harry, which was probably the only reason the young wizard managed to gather the courage enough to even try this. It was one thing to get Mana to give him information, it was a whole different one to attempt the same on Shada, who was much more reserved and careful with his words, but Harry still had to give it a shot, at the very least.

"Actually, yes, there is something" Harry admitted, slightly reluctant.

Shada's expression turned into one of curiosity as he gave a nod, silently asking Harry to go on and share his problem with him. Harry even felt guilty for even doubting this man, and the others in the Court, when he was so obviously willing to help his younger colleague, but he had to know.

"I have been troubled with thoughts of the Items" Harry pointedly ignored the way Shada tensed at that, not willing to pause and lose his courage before even asking "It's probably no secret that I am not particularly fond of them, but that might just be because I don't understand them"

Shada looked deep in thought for a moment, obviously thinking of how to respond to something like that, and wording said response carefully. This annoying reluctance everyone showed when speaking of the Items only served to make Harry even more suspicious and so more troubled.

"Understanding the Items completely might not even be possible at all, for their powers are many and sometimes mysterious, but you will grow used to them with time" The older Priest finally said.

Harry felt almost angry at the answer, for it was basically 'ignore the problem and it will go away eventually', and not something he was willing to do, not now that he had his suspicions about the Items, not now that he had talked to the Thief King.

"Yes, but I was thinking about it the other day and according to the laws of magic, and the Items _are_ made of magic, there always has to be a balance for this sort of things. To make something as powerful as the Items, something had to be given in return, right? And dealing with Shadow magic I…I'm just not really comfortable with it, with not knowing" Harry finally admitted, tired of prodding carefully for information and willing to just risk it and try to get a straight answer.

Shada's body tensed even more, and his eyes widened noticeably. Harry winced internally, for that could not possibly be a good sign. Maybe he had been much too bold? He was starting to suspect that yes, he had been, and the face Sutekh made from his place behind Shada didn't help, as it clearly stated he thought Harry was a loudmouthed idiot. Great, he was going to get a scolding from his Ka later.

"I honestly do not have the answers you seek, Haru, for the creation of the Millennium Items happened before I joined the Court, out of all of us only Akunadin was Priest back then. But sometimes we are just not meant to understand or question the things that just are. Leave this be, for the best" Shada said seriously, his eyes looking straight into Harry's, as though trying to see if the younger man would follow his advice or go against it.

"But…" Harry's protest was halted by a the other Priest's raised hand

"Just leave it be. Good day, Haru" And with that, Shada left, apparently in a hurry all of the sudden.

That was the second disappointment of the day. Was no one willing to answer? Or did anyone even know the answer he sought? This was starting to look like a lost cause, but Harry was not going to admit defeat so easily, not yet.

"_What a brilliant display of your interrogative skills and cunning mind, summoner"_ Sutekh's sarcastic comment made the young wizard turn to the mostly invisible Ka, annoyed.

"Forgive this lowly mortal for growing exasperated, it's a human thing" The young Priest shot back, with as much sarcasm as the Magician had expressed.

Sutekh gave a light huff "_Apology accepted, I suppose I cannot begrudge you your humanity"_

Harry rolled his eyes, caught between frustration and amusement at his Soul-Creature's constant derogatory comments on humans, it was almost like a running joke between the two of them by now, or would be if Sutekh knew how to joke.

"_What are you going to do now? They are either not willing to share, or completely ignorant" _Sutekh's words brought Harry's mind back to the matter at hand.

The wizard took a few moments to think, his eyes distant as he went over what little he had learned in his mind. The truth was that he didn't even know if he actually wanted to find out the truth anymore, because the more the information eluded him, the more dangerous it seemed. However, he knew that he wouldn't be able to go on like this, with suspicions and no proof, constantly questioning everything those in the Court did or said, it would end up driving him crazy.

"Not all of them" Harry voiced it as soon as he realized it, remembering Shada's words "Akunadin was part of the Court back then, he _has _to know"

Sutekh nodded in understanding, his expression showing that he was as deep in thought as his mortal. "_Perhaps, but you have always been scared of this Akunadin, do you think you can get answers from him when you can't even look him in the eye?"_ There was a light note of teasing in the Ka's voice.

Harry almost (almost!) blushed at that, embarrassed at Sutekh's accusation, which was only made worse by the little fact that it was true. Yes, he was quite a bit unnerved by Akunadin, but he felt justified on that. First of all, who wouldn't be at least a little uncomfortable around a guy with a golden Eye? That was enough to give him the creeps, and then there was also the man's dark and mysterious air, which made you feel as though he knows all your secrets and might be standing in any dark corner, watching you. So, yeah, he was a bit scared of the guy, but Sutekh didn't have to point it out like that.

"I would like to see _you_ look at him in the eye…especially the Millennium one" The wizard grumbled, pointedly ignoring what sounded suspiciously like a snicker as he made his way towards the oldest Priest's rooms. Stupid Ka.

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Harry found himself knocking on Akunadin's door soon enough, trying to keep himself calm and not bolt away before the door opened. When that finally happened and Harry saw the permanently-frowning man on the other side, he almost flinched, but managed to stay still, although barely. Akunadin looked both a bit annoyed and surprised at finding Harry there, probably because he'd had only about three conversations with the youngest since his arrival and had probably never expected to find him there.

"I…I wanted to talk with you, it's important" Harry said, squashing down the urge to fiddle with his robes or something.

Akunadin made a vague sound of understanding and moved aside, letting Harry enter before closing the door behind him. The wizard was then invited to sit in one of the few chairs the room had, which he did, while the older Priest went to gather and organize some scrolls he must have been going over before being interrupted.

"You said you wanted to talk. Talk" The older man's grave voice made Harry feel a lot like a mischievous first year being reprimanded, not a nice feeling at all.

"I wanted to know more about the Millennium Items" Harry admitted boldly, his courage refusing to fail him even in front of the intimidating Priest.

Akunadin paused what he was doing, his hand extended in mid air as he had been reaching for a particular scroll, his one human eye firmly trained on Harry all of the sudden.

"And what makes you think I am the right person to ask?" The older questioned, leaving any pretenses of organizing his work space to focus on the wizard.

Harry considered what to tell him, even considered abandoning this whole stupid mission and going back to his room, but he hadn't been a Gryffindor once for nothing. Akunadin was much older and much more experienced in politics than him, and this meant that Harry had absolutely no chances of tricking any information out of him, and the young man knew it. This meant that he would have to take the direct approach.

"Because you were in the Court when they were made" Harry finally said, his eyes refusing to break the staring contest with the older man "And I want to know what was the price of making them, because I know beyond shadow of a doubt that something as great as the Items has to come with a price…it is always like that"

Akunadin's expression turned into one of anger, his hands clenched into fists and his eye narrowed dangerously, but Harry still didn't back down.

"You have no idea what you are speaking of, boy. Now leave" The older Priest barked, obviously trying to end this decidedly uncomfortable conversation.

"No" Harry was _not_ going to give up now, when the truth was so close he could almost touch it "You know the answers to my questions and I have the right to know. If I am going to guard an Item, then I have the right to know exactly what I am guarding" He paused, still staring at Akunadin and trying to decide if he should keep pressing his luck, until he finally decided that his need to know outweighed his self-preservation "To know who's blood is on the Item I guard"

That did it. Akunadin threw his scrolls to the floor in a fit of anger and Harry jumped away from his seat in alarm. The man looked half-crazed as it was, and the young wizard was almost expecting an attack by now. Harry gathered his magic in his hands, just in case he had to defend himself, but Akunadin didn't attack him.

"You have no right! No right to question the actions of your betters and no right to know what should not be known. Now leave!" Akunadin yelled, looked quite a bit like an enraged beast by now.

It was testament to Harry's stubborn and brave nature that he didn't.

"You _do_ know, don't you?" He accused, angry now.

All the horrible feelings he had experienced when first finding out about the blood behind the Items, about the massacre and the lies he had been told returned all of the sudden, increased even. This man knew! He was probably there even, and he was refusing to share that knowledge, refusing to admit the atrocities that his Court had committed. It was enough to make the young wizard's fury rise.

"You know about the village! You know about the Sacrifice!"

Everything seemed to pause for a second, before the moment of surprise broke and Harry found himself held by the throat and slammed against a wall. He cried out half in surprise and half in pain when his back collided with the hard surface of the stone, his breath escaping him for a moment. Akunadin looked mad, and mad as in out of his mind with anger, and for a moment Harry even feared for his life.

"You do not know anything so do not speak of what you cannot understand! Get out!" Akunadin yelled right in his face, finally making Harry flinch.

And with that, he was viciously thrown out of the room and the door slammed shut. He fell to the floor, caught off guard and pained at the rough manhandling. He stayed there for a second, before picking himself up and bolting the hell away from this place, not even looking back at the closed door behind which lay the answers he had sought.

He must have run for at least ten minutes before he stopped, leaning against a wall and panting for breath. The look in Akunadin's eyes…it was a look of panic, righteous anger and anxiousness. A mix that could only belong in the eyes of a man who knew he had done something wrong, some grave mistake, but honestly thought his crimes were for the best in the end. It brought all hope Harry had that this was all just a misunderstanding crashing down and lighting up in flames.

He slid down to the ground, his back still against the wall, and gripped his head in his hands, frustrated, angry and even scared, confused at it all.

"The Thief was right" He finally said, his voice sounding broken and defeated even to his own ears "He was right, and the Court was guilty. They killed his family, his people"

'_Like Voldemort killed mine'_

There was no response to his words. Sutekh, who was once again standing besides the young wizard, had heard his words, but apparently didn't know what could be said in a moment like this. It was proof of his growing bond with Harry that he didn't tease or torment him at all, and remained a quiet witness.

Harry himself felt almost devastated. His trust in the Pharaoh, in the Court, in almost everyone and everything he had believed in since arriving here at a god's request had broken in what seemed to be an irreparable way. His life had taken drastic turns and twists since the beginning of this adventure, but he had honestly though he had found his place in this life finally, and now it turned out that most of it was likely a lie. Why him? Why was it always him? He had lost so much already, and now this too.

Defeated and much too tired even though it was only late afternoon, he made his way back to his room. He was going to lock himself in there and try to figure out what to do next (as though he really had many options left). Sutekh followed quietly.

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**Author's Notes:** Okay, for some reason, this chapter was remarkably hard to write . Ah, well, but now at least we have some conversations with some previously neglected characters ^_^U What will Harry do now? Is he going to talk with Atem? Is he going to confront the Court? Is he going to curse at Ra for sending him there in the first place?...Guess we'll find out soon enough ^_^

Ah, about Bakura's name…I decided to turn this into a vote as well because I honestly don't know what to do about that and this seems like a fair and easy way to get out of this little problem. However, this vote will only be going on until next chapter, so be sure to state your choice before then ^_^

Bakura ||||

Akefia ||||

And now, to answer some reviews! ^_^

**Kyuuo:** Well, after this chapter things are starting to look bleak between Harry and Atem…so that's a possibility, even though Harry might not want to believe everything Bakura told him .

**Magician Girl Mirani**: O.o Remind me never to get you angry at me ^_^U I think you might mean Samhain, and I have to say, that would be a good idea if the story allows for it. To be truthful I don't have it planned that far along, yet, so anything can happen ^_-

**DeathNoteMaker:** Thank you ^_^ Well, no he has asked a few people, but Akunadin only made it worse .

**Mistress Sayu:** Oh, they'll get over their argument sooner or later, mostly 'cause I'm a sucker for happy couples who conquer the obstacles in their way *_* But I have to give them the obstacles first ^_^U

**Sharingan-Youkai.:** I have to say that would be an interesting pairing ^_^ I think you'll like the next chapter and what I have planned for it ^_-

**Smoochynose:** Thanks ^_^ Oh, I have the YGO wikia open and working practically all the time…bound to happen when you're writing two stories that contain YGO stuff ^_^U

Thanks to **everyone** who reviewed, your comments and ideas are food for this story…and the authoress' good mood ^_^

See ya all next chapter! ^_^


	24. Keep Your Friends Close

**Chapter Twenty Four**

Keep Your Friends Close and Your Enemies Closer

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After what could only be called a disastrous day, full of attempts to find out the truth on the matter of the Millennium Items and the thief's story, Harry was more than happy to lock himself in the quiet haven of his room and not come out until the world started to make sense again, which didn't look likely to happen too soon, or soon enough for him.

If the Thief King was right about the sacrifice needed for the creation of the Items, did that mean he was also telling the truth about everything else? Was the Court keeping more secrets from Harry, using him? He couldn't know, not for sure, and that constant insecurity, bordering on the beginnings of paranoia now, was slowly driving him insane. He respected the Court, even if he wasn't exactly best of friends with a few of its integrants (Akunadin came to mind, with Seth on close second), and the possibility that they were less than honorable was not a nice one, not to him.

He sighed and then groaned, feeling what promised to be a monumental headache start to form. He had though he was done with headaches when his connection to Voldemort went inactive (probably due to the fact that they were quite a bit away from each other in both time and space) and his scar started to fade but no, there is simply no rest for the reluctant hero.

He was starting to consider packing up and leaving, probably go hide somewhere up north or try to find what England looked like three thousand years before his time, when the sound of one annoyed snake's grumbling broke his concentration on escape and travel plans. It was a stupid idea, anyways.

~You insssissst on leaving me behind, even when you take the not-human along. Sssstupid not-human~ Sashaiti hissed as her head slowly peeked out from under a pillow, her black eyes trained on Harry.

~Sorry, but I had things to do and couldn't take you along. Besides, Sutekh can go invisible and you can't, that's not my fault~ Harry responded, trying to reason with her.

It was mostly useless, reasoning with this particular cobra. Sashaiti had a very strong personality and was stubborn as a mule when she felt like it and once an idea got into her head it would take more than a parselmouth's words to convince her that she was wrong. Harry had never managed to yet.

~I do not need to go invissssible. I am sssssmart enough not to be ssssseen if I do not want to, unlike him~ Harry was very, very glad that Sutekh couldn't understand snake language and so would never know what exactly Sashaiti said about him. Not that the Ka didn't know that the snake disliked him, but since the feeling was pretty much mutual, as long as there was a language barrier Harry felt at least a little bit safe.

~Sorry then. I promise to take you out tomorrow, and you can go hunting in the gardens if you like~ The wizard said, trying to distract the snake away from her grumblings with the promise of hunting tomorrow.

Sashaiti was very independent and refused any food that Harry offered her, preferring to hunt on her own than rely on a human, probably as a way of making up for her previous life in captivity. This was perfectly fine with the young Priest, as he didn't feel like having to catch mice, or ask the servants to, in order to feed a snake he was very sure would be picky with what she ate. The cobra wasn't his pet, and he would never make the mistake of thinking she was, she was merely a companion that chose to stay with him for the time being and could leave if she ever felt like it. He didn't think she would leave anytime soon though, because she didn't know the first thing about life in the wild and was much too used to humans. Besides, Harry was sure that she liked him, even if she showed it in her bizarre snake way.

~Tomorrow? The light issss not fully gone yet. Let ussss go now~ Sashaiti's voice showed an almost childish anxiousness to be outside.

Harry shook his head, feeling a bit guilty for denying the snake something that she obviously really wanted, but not willing to risk running into any of the other Priests at the moment, not so soon after the recent discoveries.

~I'm sorry. Not today, I'm hiding from the Court today~ The wizard confessed.

One of the good things about having Sashaiti with him (other than the fact that it bothered Seth) was that she was someone he could talk to, and who was almost always willing to listen to his 'human rambling nonsense', and who would never be able to relay his secrets to anyone else. Well, not unless there was another parselmouth around and the possibilities of that were really low, and even then, Harry was quite confident that the cobra had become a close enough friend that she wouldn't go babbling to another snake speaker.

~Why? Did they hurt you? Do they hunt you? I sssshall bite them~ The cobra said, her head raised and mouth opened threateningly.

Harry smiled at that. Apparently Sashaiti even liked him enough to go biting people who tried to harm him. It was touching in a weird and slightly violent sort of way, knowing that he had his very own snake bodyguard (not that he would ever dare call her that, at least to her face).

~They aren't hunting me, and they didn't hurt me~ Harry paused there, wondering how he should explain something as complicated as broken trust, covered up crimes and human deceit to a snake ~It's just that they have been lying to me. And I fear they might not be what I thought they were~

Sashaiti tilted her head to one side, looking quite a lot like a curious kitten. It was probably one of the many expressions she had learned to copy from Harry himself, as he rather doubted normal snakes did that.

~Are they enemiessss? You ssssssaid they did not hurt you, ssssso I do not underssssstand~ The hissing voice of the cobra sounded quite confused.

Harry paused again, having been thrown deep in thought by the reptile's words. Were they enemies? It was one thing to keep secrets from him and a whole different one to antagonize him, and none of them (bar his last little encounter with Akunadin) had done that yet. Maybe they weren't friends, maybe not even allies, but did that automatically make them enemies? Not to mention the fact that, by the Thief King's own admission, they weren't the same Court that committed such atrocity as the sacrifice of that village was. What did this make them? Innocent, for their lack of participation, or guilty, for their overlooking and even covering up of that crime?

Sashaiti raised her head even higher all of the sudden, her small forked tongue darting out quickly to taste the air, breaking Harry away from his thoughts and bringing his attention to the physical world. He had come to interpret that as her 'alert' position and it usually meant she sensed something important.

~Ssssomeone comessss~ She stated simply, her tongue making short trips to the outside every so often, updating the information she had on her surroundings.

Harry turned to look at the door, a groan threatening to escape him as he considered the reasons why anyone would visit him at this hour, for it was already early night, and today of all days. The most likely, and most dreaded, was that perhaps someone had heard about his snooping around and had either come to explain (not likely, considering his luck) or silence him (hopefully without death threats thrown in).

~Not there. Through the open hole in your den~ Sashaiti snapped, her whole head now turned in the direction of the window.

Harry quickly turned the same way, truly alarmed now. Why the hell would anyone come through his window? No one who went through such trouble to get in could possibly be good news, in the young wizard's experienced opinion.

A few second later his suspicions were probed correct. There was no way _this_ particular person was good news, he never was. And standing right there, having just climbed through the window and looked entirely too pleased of himself and not at all worried about the Priest/Magician currently staring at him, was none other than the Thief King himself.

Sashaiti extended her hood and opened her mouth, fangs displayed menacingly and looking like she was about to dose the white-haired man with a good amount of her venom. Sutekh had moved to his side as soon as he noticed their new company and was standing with his staff raised and ready, but he had not yet materialized to attack.

~Issss thissss one an enemy?~ The snake asked, not even pausing in her threatening display.

~I'm not sure yet. Don't attack him, but stay alert~ The wizard hissed back, his eyes locked on the Thief, not willing to risk letting the other out of his sight.

The white-haired criminal actually looked caught off guard when he saw the snake respond to the Priest's hiss by lowering her head and closing her mouth, looking for all the world like she was resting and not at all interested in attacking him, as she had just one second ago. Harry might have felt some slight triumph at surprising the apparently unflappable thief, were it not for the fact that he would have much preferred to keep his parseltongue abilities a secret.

"You can talk to it, can't you?" The thief asked, his expression turning from startled to an amused smirk.

Harry's green eyes narrowed. The young magician really, really wanted to knock the smirk off that face, had wanted to ever since their last meeting, but he didn't even try.

"Her" Harry corrected "And what in Ra's name do you think you're doing here? I told you not to come back" The wizard was rather proud of the way his voice remained fear and didn't betray any of the nervousness he felt at the moment. Being stuck in a room with the Thief King was most certainly not on his list of things to do.

The Thief King answered with yet another smirk and deftly pulled a folded cloak from within his robe. It was made of white linen with golden details, the kind of material that all Priests seemed to use. It was Harry's cloak.

"I did promise to return this, magician, I am merely keeping my word" The thief's voice was almost teasing, although with a decidedly dangerous edge to it, as he threw the cloak to thr wizard.

Harry easily caught it, seeker reflexes and all "Alright. You've returned it, now get the hell out before I call every single guard in this Palace" Harry threatened, his eyes momentarily drifting to the see-though form of Sutekh, just to make sure he was still there.

"If you were going to do that, you would have done it already instead of waiting for me to state my business" The man paused, adopting a mocking thoughtful look before continuing "I have to say, your manners are much better than those of your colleagues. They usually try to kill me first and ask questions later"

Harry snorted, not amused at all "I think they have good reason. Every time I see you, you're nothing but trouble. So maybe I should do the same, save me whatever grief you'll bring next" There was a bitter note to the young man's words, a rather obvious one too.

The thief grinned darkly, an expression that made him look all the more dangerous "Ah, so you've been suffering over my words from yesterday, no? Tell me, did you discover them to be lies?"

One look at Harry's angry but saddened eyes seemed enough answer to him. The grin became darker, if possible.

"You didn't, did you? In fact, I am willing to wager that it was the opposite. You found out I was telling the truth, eh, little magician?" The thief sounded very much pleased at being proved right.

Harry's fists clenched and he suddenly felt very much tempted to at least punch the loudmouthed criminal, or perhaps sic both Sutekh and Sashaiti on him. That ought to teach the guy to be pleased about something like this, something that was devastating to Harry. But he _was_ right, and the wizard could no longer deny that, no matter how much he wanted to.

"I didn't mean for you to suffer, though. As I told you then, I'm only trying to warn you" The man said, taking two steps closer and making Harry take two steps back. He paused and didn't attempt to close the distance between them anymore, for now "You and I are not enemies, I have nothing against you. I don't see why we couldn't be friends, then"

Harry barely contained a surprised gasp at that. He was starting to suspect the thief was on some sort of opiate after that, for at least that would give some sense to those crazy words. Friends? With Mahaad's killer, a Tomb Robber, an enemy of the Pharaoh? Harry was pretty sure he would be executed for that, Sa-Ra or not. And then there was also the fact that the mere idea seemed so very _wrong_.

But why, exactly?

The thief was right, they weren't enemies. The Court and the Pharaoh had a bone to pick with this man, but it wasn't Harry's fight, and he was tired of fighting other people's fights. If the thief didn't bother him, he was perfectly content to let the man go and never know of him again, as he had proven yesterday in the city, when he went as far as aiding the other's escape. Okay, so they weren't enemies, but they were hardly friendly with each other, what with the constant threats and their usual angering of one another.

No, they weren't friends either. They were merely acquaintances, if that. Now, to tell the Thief king that.

"I don't even know your name, I don't know anything about you, other than your status as a criminal" '_A dead one, at that'_ "We are _not_ friends" The wizard stated surely, firmly.

The thief cocked his head to one side, looking deep in thought for a second before giving a decided nod, apparently having come up to a decision of some sort.

"Akefia" He finally said "And I didn't say we were friends, I merely stated that I can't see why we couldn't be"

Harry blinked, twice, caught off guard by that. "Excuse me?"

The thief gave a sigh and an exasperated roll of his eyes "My name, you said you didn't know it. It's Akefia" He stated simply, apparently not at all bothered with giving information to one of the Priests who were supposed to be after his head.

Harry couldn't help but wonder why exactly it was that this man always seemed to throw him off with really unexpected words. As though yesterday hadn't been confusing enough, and today certainly hadn't been any better up until now, the guy went and introduced himself to the wizard. This couldn't possibly be the normal way supposed enemies dealt with each other…but then, since when had Harry's life been normal? Not to mention, he had already come to conclusion that they were not really enemies, merely two people caught in opposing sides on a conflict, but not fighting against each other. If the thief had become a neutral party, to Harry at least, in this mess, then why should he not give his name? It certainly wasn't against any rules, and he had the feeling that if it were, the white-haired man would only have one more reason to do it.

He sighed. _'If you can't beat them…'_

"Fine. Akefia, then, please leave my room before you bring the whole of Egypt's army on my doorstep looking for you" Harry felt quite proud of having said that with a straight face and a very, very little amount of sarcasm in his tone.

"You're supposed to say your name after someone's told you yours" The man pointed out, grinning and showing quite a bit too much teeth.

Harry snorted at that "I didn't _ask_ for your name and I'm not giving you mine" He said, but this time there was no amused or sarcastic answer.

The Thief King looked to be deep in thought again, even as his eyes stayed away from Harry and scanned the room, taking in the decidedly luxurious furniture and fabrics that adorned the Priest's bedroom. Harry would have felt embarrassed by anyone checking out his room as this man was doing once upon a time, but after all the growing up and changing he had endured, he was more annoyed than embarrassed.

"Thief?" The wizard called out, trying to get the man's attention away from his possessions, especially the shiny ones that might be easy to slip into a pocket. The thief was bound to have itchy fingers.

The slightly older man turned back to look at him, and he seemed really serious all of the sudden, no smirks or dark grins or anything.

"Akefia" The man corrected "You know my name, so use it" The thief's voice sounded only mildly annoyed "I know you must live a pretty comfortable life here, it's a Palace after all, but if you wish to leave you could come with me. The Court has never been able to find me so I could get you away from them, give you freedom away from these liars and murderers. And I'm not exactly a poor man either, I can afford a good life for both of us" The annoyance in the thief's voice had bled away to give way to a more serious and contemplative tone of voice, with only a slight hiss of anger at the mention of the Court.

Harry's whole body tensed instantly, and he was sure his eyes were as wide as saucers, bright green saucers. He had _not _just heard what he had though he'd heard, right? What the hell was this thief proposing? To run away?...To run away with _him_? Absolutely preposterous!

And yet, the young wizard could not truthfully deny that he had been contemplating a much similar course of action only a little while before the thief came in. Of course, he had never even considering the possibility of seeking refuge with who had been Egypt's most wanted criminal, before his supposed death, but plans change right? And he did want away from the Court, and the Palace and…Did he want away from Atem too? A painful stab of some emotion, quite similar to regret but seemingly worse, attacked his heart at the very thought.

Harry's fist clenched in frustration. He wanted to leave, and yet he didn't want to. But Atem didn't deserve his loyalty, did he? Not after everything Harry had found out just recently, not after deceiving him as he had. And still, Harry couldn't even stand the thought of betraying the Pharaoh like this. And Mana, what would she do or say? He couldn't leave the younger magician alone here, not after Mahaad's death, she was his responsibility. And the rest of the Court, the ones who had not been there for the murder of Akefia's people. Isis, Shada, Shimon, Karim and even Seth, with all his stubbornness and dislike for Harry. Had he not just come to the conclusion that they weren't his enemies either? Could he betray them, then, and become the enemy himself?

Harry knew the answer before even asking the question. No, he simply could not. The truth of the matter was that the young wizard was still too much of a Gryffindor, too damn chivalrous and noble to do something as terrible as betrayal, to hurt the people he had grown close to like that.

He shook his head, his eyes pointedly away from the thief "I can't leave now. My place is here in the Palace, and so I'll remain" Harry said firmly, willing the thief to understand and just leave him alone "I won't tell anyone that you were here, or even that you are alive, and I won't hunt you down myself but I won't go with you"

He turned to the thief then, and it took quite the strength of will to, and the two locked gazes.

"You are still loyal to them, even after finding out the truth of their deeds?" Akefia sounded angry, seriously angry, and his eyes glinted with some inner darkness that chilled even Harry.

"They weren't the ones who killed your people" The wizard argued, not willing to let the thief intimidate him at all "They have not done anything to prove untrustworthy yet and until they do I remain loyal, to them and to Pharaoh" His voice was full of conviction, conviction that he wasn't even sure he actually felt. Everything was so much more complicated now.

The Thief King gritted his teeth, looking quite a lot like snarling wolf in Harry's opinion, but didn't move to attack or even get closer to Harry. The man was obviously going through some inner conflict, the way his eyes darted quickly from Harry to the window and then the door, the way he seemed to be calculating something even as he visibly restrained himself from acting in his anger. Harry would have felt a lot more scared if he didn't have the now almost unconditional support of both Sutekh and Sashaiti, which was even more comforting due to the fact that Akefia only knew about one of them.

Finally, the thief visibly forced himself to relax, expelling his breath in one great sigh and no longer looking like he was either going to bolt away or try to slit Harry's throat in one swift move.

"Fine, whatever" He said, apparently not wishing to argue anymore "If you want to stay here, then stay here. Be careful of your dear Court, though, or they'll stab you in the back when you least expect it" He warned.

And with that, the white-haired thief turned away and started to make his way back to the window from whence he'd came. Harry found himself following before he even realized it.

"I'm not giving up on you, though, little magician" The older of the two said, turning back to look at Harry even as one of his legs dangled from the window. "I'll come back, just to make sure you're alright"

Harry almost rolled his eyes, and would have were this not a serious conversation "I'll be just fine, they are not going to kill me in my sleep" The thief snorted in disbelief at that, but Harry pointedly ignored him "Plus, if you come back here you are going to get caught sooner or later and get us both in trouble"

The Thief King barked a harsh laugh and smirked smugly "As if I would ever get caught by these puny guards. I can come and go as I please and I say I'm coming back" He paused for a second and then his smirk turned from smug to amused "And besides, you said you wouldn't be friends with me because you didn't know me. This is going to be your chance to do just that and mine to find out your name"

Harry cursed his big mouth for that. He just _had_ to get the idea into the thief's head that they needed to get to know each other and everything would be alright. Not that he wasn't curious about the thief, because surely everyone in all of Egypt must be, but this was a high risk and besides, the man had already proved to be a messenger of discord and Harry didn't think he could handle any more surprising revelations on the people he was supposed to work with. Still, there really was little he could do to stop the man, as he had already proved he could slip past the guards. Harry made a mental note to start a better training program for guards, but preferably when the Thief King was far, far away and not likely to return and get them caught.

"Just go already" The wizard snapped irritably.

The thief did just that, smirking all the while as he climbed down. Harry wasn't sure exactly how he did that, and he was not going to look, not wanting to end up seeing the man go splat if anything went wrong. He was still close enough to the window to hear the sound of the thief's sandals sliding against the stone walls.

"It's Haru, by the way" Harry said, blurting it out before he could get second thoughts about it "My name"

He was pretty sure he heard a snicker, and he could more than easily picture the Thief King's triumphant grin, but he pointedly ignored that and made his way back to his bed. This had been a much too long and weird day and he wanted it over with already.

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**Author's Notes:** Chapter 24! Can you believe it, 24 chapters already? ^_^ Oh, and I'm sorry about the slower-than-usual updates that were these last few chapters, but I'm still having computer trouble (it's my laptop's battery, but I should be getting a new one on the mail sometime next week) and also consider than I am writing this and another story, so things can get a little complicated ^_^U

About this chapter, I know it might start to look like the story is going in the direction of a Harry/Akefia pairing, but it is _not_. It's just important for my little plans for this story that those two get close, though certainly not in a romantic sort of way….just saying ^-^ And besides, Harry is just starting to realize that maybe, perhaps there is a possibility that there might be some feelings there for Atem, that's why he couldn't betray him…now we just need to wait for our cute clueless wizard to figure it out ^_^U

Bakura ||||||

Akefia |||||||||||||

So Akefia it is! ^_^

And now, to answer some reviews! ^_^

**LivingLegends:** Thank you ^^ Ah, no making up yet, but I think Harry is beginning to forgive Atem, even if he won't say it aloud yet ^_^U

**ShadowHunterLoki:** Thank you ^_^ Yes, I plan on introducing Sutekh to Atem and the Priests soon enough, when there's some trouble forcing him to 'come out' ^^

**Pixie dust of doom:** Sadly, there's no mention of his true name anywhere, I've looked and searched and searched some more…I was considering sending an e-mail to Takahashi, but I very much doubt I can get his address, or that it'll get answered U.U

**Syrena Li:** Thank you ^_^ And yeah, Harry might be a bit of a jerk right now, but I suppose he's had it all the stuff happening to him, poor guy had to snap sooner or later ^_^U

**Sentariana:** Eeep! O.o I swear, swear, swear, swear, _swear_ this is going to be Harry/Atem *hides under the table* Harry just needs to stop being such a blockhead and realize that Atem really does love him, but in the meantime Bakura is trying to plant doubts and discord, and just that ^_^U Thank you ^-^

**Socdel:** Something will…I'm not really sure what, exactly, but something will…sooner or later ^_^U

**Sharingan-Youkai.:** No Atem on this one either, I'm afraid, but he will be in the next one. And yup, you'd be right about the shit and thefan's predestined meeting, and the fan is turned on high ^_^U

**Lina Ben:** Thank you ^_^ And yes, I'm going to go a bit more in depth with their relationship, but first they have to get said relationship and I need Harry to stop being stubborn and open his eyes before doing that, so it might take a couple of chapters yet ^_^U

Thanks to **everyone** who reviewed, your comments and ideas are food for this story…and the authoress' good mood ^_^

See ya all next chapter! ^_^


	25. Forgiveness and Other Feelings

**Chapter Twenty Five**

Forgiveness and other Feelings

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The next morning, just a couple of hours after Ra's appearance in the sky, Harry could already be found hard at work, having decided to keep his mind away from troublesome thoughts by doing something useful. He was currently going through some details regarding the security of the royal tombs, which he was trying hard to upgrade now that he knew a certain tomb-robbing Thief King was indeed very much alive and likely trying to get his itchy fingers on some treasure. He might have come to some sort of bizarre truce with the guy, but it certainly didn't mean he was just going to let him desecrate those graves; it was his job to keep that from happening, after all.

~I do not ssssee why you are sssso worried about this, you have ssssnakessss in that place and there isssss no way one loussssy human can ssssslip passsst sssssnakessss, even thosssse blabbing idiotic onessss~ Shashaiti's hissing voice quickly distracted the young magician from his work.

The boy sighed, cursing himself for at least the fifth time for having explained to the snake exactly what it was he was so busy with. The spitting cobra seemed to take great offense that Harry could even consider the possibility that the Thief King could possibly overcome the obstacle that her kind presented and as the wizard had found out during his time together with the reptile, an offended cobra is not a nice cobra.

~Sashaiti, for the last time, that is not the only tomb I have to protect~ His voice carried a certain weariness that easily let it be known that this was not the first time he had said this particular sentence. ~Perhaps you would like to do your part and join the blabbing ones as tomb guardian~ He finally said, annoyed green eyes easily locking with the snake's black ones in challenge, rather clearly stating 'just give me a reason'.

The snake reared away from the magician, but there was no flared hood or displayed fangs to signify a threatening stance, she merely looked slightly shocked and, if Harry wasn't imagining things, perhaps even a little bit hurt.

~You would not dare~ Sashaiti said in a low hiss.

The poor wizard soon enough felt guilty for even saying those words. Sashaiti was a friend to him, even if the snake was sometimes more trouble than she was worth, and for some strange reason she was clearly afraid of being thrown into a tomb, or even being away from the young parseltongue for extended periods of time (not that he understood why, since she was a very independent creature), and so it was cruel to threaten her like that.

~No~ Responded the wizard easily ~I would not~

He gave a slight smile and proceeded to slowly pet the snake's raised head, a clear sign of peace and a silent apology. Those entirely black eyes stared at him critically for a moment or two before the cobra seemed to decide that he was honest enough and then closed as she focused instead on enjoying the hand stroking her scales. Harry had the distinct feeling that, if it was physically possible, the snake would be purring by now.

~I promised you some time in the gardens today, didn't I?~ The boy asked, still petting the blissful cobra ~What do you say I fulfill my promise and we go enjoy the sun for a little while?~

The rather proud reptile didn't even wait to hear the end of the sentence before rearing up again in obvious excitement ~What are you waiting for, human, usssse those legsssss of yoursssss and get moving already!~

The young Priest had to visibly retrain himself from outright laughing at the excited (and perhaps slightly bossy) snake, knowing that would probably wound her pride and place him at risk of being bitten and, if the offense was great enough, perhaps even poisoned. He turned to Sutekh, feeling slightly guilty once more when he saw the Ka was looking out the window, probably sick of these four walls as well.

"We're going out, want to come with?" The young magician offered, a slight and almost forced smile on his face, it had been getting progressively harder to honestly smile since the fight with Atem.

The Ka rolled his red eyes at his summoner's question, but Harry refused to take any sort of offense of his Soul-Creature's by now usual behavior, Sutekh was just like that and the wizard had learned to deal with it. _"As though I would do anything else. Leaving you with only that _thing_ for protection would be like committing suicide"_ Was the Ka's oh-so-cheerful (please note sarcasm) answer.

Harry merely shook his head resignedly and proceeded to walk out the room, a happy snake around his neck and an invisible and grumpy Ka following after him. He was not going to stay cooped up in this room just because of some stupid fight with the stupid Pharaoh, not anymore.

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It was a beautiful day outside, typical bright Egyptian sun, with a nice little breeze to help fight off the constant heat, not a cloud to mar the nice blue sky, nobles and servants alike bustling around, going through their day as though there was nothing wrong in the world. All in all, it was a rather picturesque scene that almost made a certain wizard want to scream out his frustrations at the world. Said world simply should not have the right to be all bright and happy when Harry´s mind and thoughts were still all weary and jumbled up, but that was probably depression talking.

Still, a promise is a promise and the young Priest was determined to keep his. He swiftly made his way to the gardens he loved so much, dodging people left and right and praying to Ra that none of the Court, or worse still, the Pharaoh were around to watch him sneak outside. They would probably stop him to at the very least ask about his sudden and continuous disappearance, if not outright demand that he get up his lazy behind and start acting like the Priest he was (as a certain blue-eyed High Priest was bound to do).

When finally (was the Palace intentionally making the way longer as Hogwarts would sometimes do, or was it just him?) the young mage and his two companions reached the aforementioned gardens, it was to the great relief of the poor magician. He had missed this place in the couple of days he had been away and he felt almost as though coming home after a long stay away as he gazes at the soft grass, tall trees and beautiful ponds. Sadly, the place also reminded him of the many hours he and a certain Pharaoh spent together there, talking and joking, practicing fencing or magic, just being friends, and those memories would simply not let him find peace in the spot that was usually a sanctuary to him.

Sighing, resigned to having to deal with the memories for now, the wizard sat down next to one of the several ponds, its surface almost filled with lotus flowers and leaves, and gently removed the coiled snake from around his neck. He placed Sashaiti on the ground, watching as the snake excitedly looked around and darted her tongue out to taste her environment. Harry felt quite a bit guilty for having her cooped up while he was in his brooding mood, since it was obvious the reptile preferred the open space of the outside as opposed to the confinement of a human 'den' and promised himself to at the very least let her out more frequently.

The three stayed there, quiet and at least content for a while. Sashaiti wandering around the place, occasionally pretending to stalk some imaginary prey, supposedly to keep her hunting skills sharp according to her. Sutekh standing off to one side, watching the people in the distance move about and do whatever they were doing, apparently aloof but vigilant as always. Harry, watching his reflection in what clear surface there was in the pond, carefully noticing the changes that had happened in him since his arrival to this new time and place, finding himself much more different than he expected.

His hair, which had always been black as night, seemed to have gained a few dark brown highlights, most likely because of extended exposure to the sun, not to mention that it had grown quite a bit as it had not suffered any surprise haircuts courtesy of Petunia Dursley, now reaching just a bit past his shoulders. His skin, which to the Egyptians had been bizarrely pale, had tanned and darkened noticeably, making him look a bit less out of place even though he was still considerably paler than everyone else. His clothes and accompanying accessories, so very different from anything Harry Potter had ever worn, white linen robes and cloak, with detailed gold embroidery and obviously expensive, accompanied by the considerable number of golden jewelry on his person, rather clearly stating wealth and social status.

But perhaps the most startling change of all were his eyes. Oh, they still were the same emerald green shade of always, inherited from his mother, but before this whole thing, his reflection´s eyes had always held a certain light of innocence and mischief, something that denoted an ongoing childhood. That light was fully gone now, replaced with a more serious and worried look that seemed to accompany most adults, and usually those quite a bit older than the young wizard.

He wasn´t really all that surprised at the changes, just hadn't expected to see them. It was obvious that he was a new person, with new responsibilities and even a slightly different personality. It was obvious that he had stopped being a child when he became a Chosen of Ra, that he had left behind everything he was before and had become this, Priest, Sa-Ra, magician and warrior-in-training.

It was obvious that he wasn't Harry Potter anymore.

For some reason, that revelation brought both relief and anger to the wizard. He had essentially lost everything he was, or had been, and all of it to help a kingdom whose monarch had turned out to be a treacherous fake friend, all of it for nothing. Still, he had to remind himself of the reason he had agreed to this whole thing in the first place, to save Sirius, remind himself that just that was more than enough reason to do it all over again. He just wasn't sure if he was entirely convinced at the end.

But on the other hand, Harry Potter's life had never been one of the best, pain and grief seemed to plague it and although he missed his friends terribly, he could not honestly say that he missed being the so-called Boy-Who-Lived. That's not to say that Haru's life was a bed of roses, but at the very least he did not have to worry about being called a pathological liar and attention-seeker, didn't have to worry about a megalomaniac Dark Lord after his head, about an interfering Ministry or the foolishness of the wizarding world in general.

All of these thoughts were continuously pilling up on the young man until, in a rare fit of frustration, he punched the image of his reflection, distorting it to unrecognizable and broken shapes as he disrupted the calming peace of the lotus pond. It wasn't fair to him, so much changing and shifting, he was no longer sure of who he really was in the end, wasn't sure if he was Harry pretending to be Haru or if he was Haru pretending not to be Harry.

"You are angry at yourself just as much as you are angry with me." The sound of that oh-so-familiar voice speaking such declaration easily startled the wizard out of his thought trance, for he had been so caught up in himself that he had failed to notice the other's approach.

The Priest felt a wave of irritation fill him as he sent a dirty look at Sutekh, who was bound to have noticed the intruder and had simply decided not to alert his summoner. The Ka had that annoyingly smug, with a light tint of pretended innocence that simply didn't fit him, look on his face, apparently very much pleased with himself. Harry made a mental note to have words with Sutekh after this, but otherwise focused on the current problem and said problem was none other than the Pharaoh himself.

"If that were true, I would have thrown myself from the highest point in your Palace." The wizard declared frostily, not even bothering to turn and look at the monarch intruding in his personal space, which when dealing with said monarch should be larger than Egypt itself. He was _not_ in the mood to deal with Atem right now.

As he was not watching the Pharaoh, he obviously missed the pained wince the man gave at his rather cruel words, but still the King of Egypt persisted "And your anger at me is because of a misunderstanding. I did not mean for it to sound like that, you _know_ that, you know me" There was almost a tone of desperation on the young King's voice, one that Harry was trying very hard to ignore.

"Do I? I thought I did and I thought you were my friend, but then you went and did…did _that_!" The wizard had risen from his place besides the pond, fists clenched and temper obviously at the surface.

"I did what I thought was best and you know it!" The mere fact that the Pharaoh's voice had risen in volume like that was enough to make Harry pause, for the man had never, ever yelled at him. In fact, Harry had trouble recalling if the Pharaoh had ever yelled at all in his presence. "I thought you did not want to return to your homeland, so I was trying to give you a place in mine. Even now, when I know you don't go because you can't, I still offer that place because whether you will admit it or not, part of you already sees Egypt as home." The young monarch seemed to calm a little at the last part, his words now softly voiced with a hopeful note in them.

Harry had to admit the truth in that, even if only to himself. Too much had happened in Egypt, too much that had changed and shaped him, made him grow up and for that, these new version of him would always see Egypt as a home and perhaps with time, his _only_ home.

"If you ever want to leave, you can. I did not and will not tie you to myself or my kingdom like that, your ascension as Priest can be undone if you so will it." Part of Harry felt relief at that, at being told that he could quit whenever he wanted, no strings attached so to say. The other part, bigger part, felt righteous anger at Atem's words. Did the Pharaoh not understand that it wasn't a matter of _wanting_ to leave but of being able to.

The King, seeing the protest begin to rise in his companion, interrupted before the words could leave the wizard's mouth. "I know the reason why you remain, I remember your words still. However, if you truly wish to leave…" There was obviously some inner pain plaguing Atem as he said this, and Harry could not help but feel at least a little guilty at that "…we will find a way. I shall ask any and all magicians and scholars within Egypt to find a way to bring you back to your time, to your home"

Those words brought a whole mix of feeling to the young Priest. Excitement, over the possibility of going home, relief that he might not be trapped in Ancient Egypt for the rest of his life, embarrassment over never having thought of that very same idea, guilt for having spoken to Atem the way he had and finally, grief because of the possibility that he would have to leave this land someday.

It was the last that confused him the most, for it almost overcame all the others. Was he really so attached to this place in so short a time? And that is when a question presented itself to Harry: If a way to return to his time was ever discovered, would he take it and leave Egypt and everyone in it forever? Or would he remain in the Land of Pharaohs and forsake his old life, friends and all, forever? To be completely truthful, the young wizard did not know the answer to that question, but chose, as most of us do when against such a dilemma, to cross that bridge once he reached it.

"You…you would do that, even after what you said…before?" The magician-in-training asked tentatively, not sure of how he was supposed to react when someone he had been so horribly mad at offered him a possible ticket back home.

And Harry would also freely admit that perhaps he had been a little unfair to Atem, not to mention terribly rude, but at the moment he had felt more than justified in his anger. Now, though, he wasn't so sure. He had thought Atem wanted to keep him here, especially considering the confession of feelings the Pharaoh had made the other day, but now it was obvious that he had been at least partially wrong.

A very slight glimmer of anger shone in Atem's amethyst eyes, letting the wizard know that the Pharaoh was at the very least terribly annoyed. "My feelings towards you only increase my desire to find a way for you to go back home. I do not know who taught you your skewered idea of love, but to me it means making the other person happy, and if you can only find happiness in the future then I will find a way to bring you there, because I _do _care, because I _do _love you"

For some strange reason, something about Atem's words made Harry terribly sad and guilty, mixed with that other emotion he wasn't even sure the name of, and the mix of it all was almost enough to bring tears to his eyes. Still, he refused to acknowledge the feeling right now and instead focus on the current conversation.

Emerald green eyes turned almost pleadingly to the still invisible Ka, obviously asking for some advice or words of wisdom on what to do now, because to be perfectly honest Harry had no clue on what he was supposed to do or say. Did he forgive Atem and go back to the way things were? Did he accept the offer but remain aloof towards the Pharaoh? He didn't want any more heartache or disappointments, but he had also missed his friend so very much during the time of their drift.

Red-on-yellow eyes watched it all happen calmly, the Magician not willing to interrupt this reunion of friends, knowing because of some instinct or perhaps just from knowing his summoner so damn well, that this was exactly what his wizard needed and that it was best for them all. When said summoner turned to him, obviously seeking his opinion, the Soul-Creature didn't even have to really think about it before offering his words.

"_You were willing to listen to that Akefia, who was always your enemy before. Will you not grant this man, who was always your friend, the same courtesy?" _

And that was all that needed to be said. Because, when you put it like that, there really wasn't much else Harry could do, or wanted to even. Sutekh was right, he had listened to and believed in the Thief King's words, why should Atem's be any less believable to him? Of course, there was the fact that his trust in the Pharaoh had already been fragmented, but to be fair, there might have been a slight overreaction on his part back then.

The young Priest offered a tentative smile to the King, which was returned with a slightly sad one. "Thank you" The wizard said, and there was honesty practically oozing from the words, a feeling of gratitude that was appreciated even if not required by the Pharaoh. "And…I'm sorry, about what I said before. It's just…no one's ever said _that_ to me before so I guess I just…panicked"

That confession was almost enough to make Atem want to exclaim surprise. For surely everyone had been professed love at least once in their life, the love of a parent or sibling, the love of a friend or perhaps even that of a lover. The fact that Harry had not, and there was no way Atem could doubt the magician's words when they carried that note of sincerity with a hint of regret and shame, made the Pharaoh angry at the world of the future. What had happened during the time between now and then that made people forget to let others know they were loved?

"I am sorry too. Perhaps…perhaps I was too sudden and blunt. I did not mean to make you uncomfortable, but I can also not change the way I feel." A hand rose to lightly brush the Priest dark hair back in an unmistakable gesture of romantic feelings.

Harry had to retrain himself from moving away, telling himself that Atem was not going to hurt him, that the touch did feel good and not painful at all. The wizard had to admit that, in a way, he was terribly damaged from his childhood and even some from his teen years, to always expect pain or mistreat when someone touched him, but he also trusted Atem just enough to let the other close, even if not as close as the Pharaoh truly wanted to be.

"I can't return your feelings." Harry confessed, his voice soft and with a light note of regret in them. It wasn't that Atem wouldn't be a good person to have romantic feelings for, it was just that Harry did not know the first thing about love, wasn't even sure if he liked other males like that and wasn't willing to risk his heart by trying.

He had always thought he was interested only in girls, but then again, he only had his juvenile little crush on Cho Chang as proof of that and, being entirely honest, that had turned out to be quite the disaster. With Atem it was entirely different because, even though the young wizard would grudgingly admit to himself that the Pharaoh was nice-looking, any closeness they had or any hidden feelings were simply because of their personalities, because in a way, they simply _fit_ together, like pieces of a puzzle, but that was something the Priest was nowhere near ready to consider.

Atem nodded his understanding, a sad little smile on his face as he lowered his hand but didn't move away "I know, and I will never force you to. Give me a chance, though, and perhaps that will change in time, and even if it does not I will not regret it, for I will have at least tried."

The words were both comforting and troubling for the young wizard. Atem was obviously giving him a choice, and he was not being forced into anything at all, but giving the Pharaoh the chance to get emotionally closer than he already was would be a wager that Harry was not sure he wanted to take.

The idea of leaving Egypt was already painful to him, even though he missed England a lot, but if he actually fell in love here, he just knew that it would be impossible to go, not when he had finally found that which he had craved his whole life. Was he willing to risk the chance of returning, not to mention possible betrayal and broken heart, because of something as fickle as love?

The answer, in the end, would have to be yes. Because, even though of all the risks and consequences, Harry still dreamed of someday finding someone to love, he had dreamed of that since he could remember and now, there might be a chance that he could have that with Atem, a man who had proven to be fair and just during his tenure as Pharaoh, a man who was willing to let him go if he ever wanted to, a man who was already close to him anyways.

The wizard gave a tiny, slightly hesitant nod, accepting the Pharaoh's offer. Atem, whose smile suddenly got brighter than the Egyptian sun, very slowly leaned in, giving the wizard plenty of time to move away or stop him if he wanted to, before planting a soft and rather sweet kiss on the other's cheek. Harry had trembled just slightly and had to force himself to stay still as the King got closer, but even the reluctant wizard would have to admit that it felt good, that it felt like someone cared. And it was surprisingly startling, being that it was always been painfully obvious, that Atem had _always_ cared, even when it had been just as friends.

The revelation brought a warm feeling to the young Priest who, although nowhere near ready to admit love or anything of the like, could understand the feeling of happiness he got and for now, that was enough. Slowly, with almost a bit of hesitancy, he placed his arms around Atem, who quickly returned the gesture.

The two stood in the gardens, embracing, and the world seemed to consist of only the two of them for the moment, no urgent issues for either of the two politically powerful men to deal with, no thoughts of returning to the future or staying in the past, no constant worry about the general well-being a whole kingdom. Just two people, slowly discovering what it was like to love.

And so lost were they in the moment that neither men, nor the Ka or snake watching them, noticed the sudden movement in the darkest corner of the royal gardens, the sudden blur of moon-white hair or flash of enraged eyes. And just because of that, they had no idea of the danger that approached.

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**Author's Notes:** I really, really apologize for the way-too-much time it took me to update this story and put this chapter up. I know it's really not that much of an excuse, but I got a good job and I've been focusing on it a lot lately, especially as it's what pays for my current obsession with Yu-Gi-Oh! (and trust me, some of those cards can get pretty expensive) ^^U But I'm all settled on that job now and I'll be trying to update more frequently now, though perhaps not daily as I used to, much to my grief .

And as for the chapter, to be entirely truthful, I wasn't all that convinced by it…First, it seemed like Harry forgave all too easily and then I remembered that he forgave Ron turning his back on him (GoF) ridiculously easy, and then I recalled that this Harry isn't the same as before so perhaps he isn't as quick to forgive and then I decided that Harry could forgive Atem because he is already in love with the Pharaoh, he just hasn't realized it then…and so on and so forth, so finally I just decided to leave it as it was and hope it was somewhat acceptable XD.

And now, to answer some reviews! ^_^

**The-Living-Shadow:** Very right *nods* that is one of the few things of the Court that I don't really like, well that and their way of dealing with criminals *shudders* And about Mana, well let's just say that she will get closer to Harry and more important to the story later on…right now I fell as though I'm neglecting her ^^U

**DeathNoteMaker:** Thanks ^^ Oh, I'll let you know that next chapter is most likely going to be an interlude dealing with at the very least Atem's point of view, though now that I've read your review I might also include some Priests there ^-^

**berkie88:** Thankies ^_^ Very right, very right *nods* it's just that, the way they both are, there are bound to be some clashes here and there, but the drama that brings is part of what makes this so very interesting XD And about Akefia, yup, he's trying hard to fight something that he isn't even fully aware of (remember that inner voice of his I mentioned sometime before ^_-) but we'll have to wait and see what happens with that :P

**RedValentin:** Thank you very much for your review ^_^ Making the characters a bit more real is actually one of the things I try to focus on the most, since it's basically what gives depth and emotion to a story so I try my best ^^U Oh, and don't worry about peeking into Atem's head, we'll be having and interlude eon his POV next chapter ^_^

**Tricorvus:** Thankies ^^ So far I've read two books and more web pages than I care to count about Egypt, trying to keep this at least somewhat accurate and realistic (or as much as a love story between a modern wizard and ancient pharaoh can be XD)

**Fufu-The-Ninja:** Thank you :D Oh, yeah there's definitely an interlude coming very, very soon. I'm just dying to write what goes on inside poor Atem's head during the time Harry's angry at him (bad Harry, making Atem worry like that!) and about Harry talking of his past to someone, well I'm not entirely sure yet (because this story seriously changes courses with my moods :P) but I've been meaning to have both Atem and Mana be told, different parts and certainly not everything but still…

**Yue Katsura:** Thank you very much -^_^- Oh, Harry's gonna have to realize his true feelings sooner or later, but he's probably gonna drag his heels the whole way, then again, that only makes it all the more interesting to me XD And about those spells, yes of course they're going to come into the story at some point…I already have something planned for the Patronus Charm, but I'm keeping it secret for now ^_-

**Shinigami Clara:** Oh, there's definitely going to be some drama and misunderstanding thanks to our dear Thief King, but the story wouldn't be as dramatic as I plan for it if it weren't for that..plus, it's decidedly tempting to cause as much chaos as I can using Akefia as an excuse XD As for Akunadin, I've never ever liked that guy, gives me the creeps and I've always though he's responsible for the whole mess with Zorc, the Items and even the Thief, so yeah there's gonna be something involving him too, sooner or later ;D

Thanks to **everyone** who reviewed, your comments and ideas are food for this story…and the authoress' good mood ^_^

See ya all next chapter! ^_^


	26. Interlude: Atem's Lone Days

**Chapter Twenty Six**

Interlude: Atem's Lone Days

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To most people, being King and ruler of a whole country might sound like a tempting life of luxury. After all what else could be expected when you were rich, powerful and, to top it all, worshipped as a living god? Well, to the disappointment of all said people, it was sadly not like that. Because, honestly what good was there to the titles and the money when you could not have the one thing you considered most important? What good was there to being the bloody Pharaoh if I cannot even keep a friend, never mind something more?

To be quite blunt, all I wanted to do at the moment was walk to the nearest wall and repeatedly bang my head against it. Perhaps that would improve my common sense a bit…certainly could not make it any worse that it is already.

How could I have been so stupid? What is wrong with me and my loud mouth? I had never had trouble speaking my mind, or being eloquent about things, always phrasing them in a way that would not only make my point clear but avoid conflict or unnecessary offense to others, but with Harry…well, everything was different when it came to Harry.

The magician turned Priest had been a point of interest to me since his very arrival, because to be honest how could finding a Sa-Ra not be interesting? But with time and a lot of it spent together, that platonic interest had turned into much more. I grew used and attached to the time-traveler, enjoying our talks to the point where I snuck out of the Palace more and more frequently to meet with him at the gardens, and I was always looking forwards to our spars and practices. Any little amount of time I could spend with Harry was blessed.

I had never meant for it to happen, never even dreamt it could happen. It had started slowly and then, one day, the realization of my feelings just leapt at me with the strength of a charging bull and from then on, it had been both bliss and torture to see the wizard every day, so close and still so unreachable. And it was only made worse by the fact that I am so very inexperienced in anything of this nature, since I had never during all my years of life felt anything remotely close to what I feel for this foreigner fallen from the sky.

I fought it at first, of course, convinced that it was not right to feel like that for a friend, and not helped at all by the fact that said friend was male, I argued exhaustively with myself, spending long and sleepless nights locked in my room, pacing and thinking. In the end, it had all been useless, I was unable to stop it and even deny it.

Still, as frightening as all these new feelings were, they were also very…warm. I felt more hopeful for a brighter and better day, and my mood always lifted almost immediately whenever I so much as glimpsed at the young man who unknowingly held my affection, the mind-numbing tasks I had to put up with everyday became less grueling and mostly just an obstacle to be dealt with swiftly and efficiently before spending time with the other. All in all, it was probably the best time of my life.

And then it all went up in flames.

I almost flinched as he remembered the exact phrasing of my little talk with Harry, and had no trouble admitting that it sounded less that good for me. But it _wasn't _like that, and the magician had to know that! He had to know that I wasn't some self-centered tyrant willing to just tie him down like that to keep him like some sort of pet. I love him, for Ra's sake!

But the magician did not understand that, could not for some reason, and that broke me worse than anything had before, even Father's death or Mahaad's own passing. It was worse because all the light that had appeared on my world when I first found out my feelings towards Harry did not only go out, but actually became cold and bitter darkness, biting and snapping at the vulnerable heart whenever it got the chance.

That day, when Harry ran out after declaring that he could not even look at me, I felt such devastation and despair that I was almost sure I was dying. I went after the magician of course, tried to follow him and apologize immediately before it all became worse, but the negative emotions were too much and I felt simply unable to face my beloved, too ashamed of myself for not seeing what was right in front of me, for not understanding the other's plight.

Instead, I located Shada and asked for the Priest to direct a search of the missing magician, explaining only that I had made a mistake regarding Haru and would very much appreciate it if he could bring said young man back to the Palace safe and sound. Shada had returned successful of course, but I still did not dare to go back to the magician and apologize.

The next day was spent in careful thought and meditation, not only regarding my own mistakes, but also going over the newly revealed truth of Harry's origins. At first, I could simply not believe that something as strange as traveling through time could be possible, almost convinced that Harry had perhaps made that up just to keep his secrets safe and my questions answered with lies. But I could simply not think so lowly of my dearest friend and in the end acquiesced that such a thing might be possible, after all am I not the holder of an Item whose power should also be impossible?

I then found myself wondering about what the future would be like, what the years between now and Harry's time would bring for my kingdom. I was very much tempted to track down the magician and ask him personally, the temptation of knowing what the future held was almost irresistible. But I fortunately faltered. I can still easily remember all of Isis's warnings about the dangers of looking too deep into the future, of the way nothing was truly set in stone and the future was more like a river whose currents could change for the smallest of reasons. Sometimes it was better not to know and for now, I was content with knowing what little I did, even if I still desired to know more about Harry's life, if not the future itself.

Once I thought more deeply about it, it really was no wonder that Harry had seemed so very lost during those first few days in my kingdom, it must have all been completely unfamiliar to him. But then, the magician had endured and adapted to a culture he must view as primitive to his own, had gained a rightful place amongst them and had even seemed content with it. Still, in the end, Harry probably wanted nothing more than to return home and never see Egypt or its Pharaoh again, and I could not blame him for that.

That day was a complete nightmare. I spent so much time thinking of Harry, the mistakes made, the unknown future the magician came from, and finally about what in the name of all gods I was going to do about it. It was no wonder that I was distracted and almost unresponsive the whole day, leading to my Court worrying not only over Harry's suspicious absence but also for their Pharaoh's well-being. In the end, Shimon had insisted I return to my room and rest. The old man was not willing to risk the Pharaoh's health and seemed determined to take care of everything in the meantime. Ra bless you, Shimon.

In my distraction, I did not really pay attention to all the speculative and perhaps even calculating looks Akunadin sent my way. But then, even if I had been more attentive, I would have probably dismissed it as Akunadin's usual strangeness and overprotective behavior to both myself and my kingdom. It would only be much later that I would find out how wrong I was.

It wasn't until the next morning that I finally saw the raven-haired magician again. I made my usual trip to the gardens, a tradition I could not break even these days when the only reason for said trip seemed perfectly content to hide away in his rooms. Imagine my surprise when I actually found him there, sitting a bit tensely in front of one of the many ponds that decorated the royal gardens. I think it must have been a couple of minutes that I stood there, just looking at him and trying to remember how to properly breathe. Ra, I had it bad.

It was his sudden attack against the pond that woke me up from my Harry-induced trance. I walked closer, paying attention to his facial expression, so full of grief and anger that it pained me. I never want my Harry to have to suffer like this and if I could, I would take all that away from him and carry whatever burdened him myself. Yet, all I could do was try to make him understand, try to make the emotional load a little less by bringing some knowledge to diffuse his confusion.

I told him I thought he was as angry with himself as he was with me. Perhaps not the best opening line, but it was true and that is what counted most. His answer made me wince and I almost retreated, leaving him to his solitude if only to spare myself anymore pain. But I did not desist, I could not, not when there was the slightest possibility that we could put this misunderstanding behind us.

I explained then. I told him the reasoning behind my actions, which I will admit were rash and thoughtless at the time. He did not believe me at first, of course, and I would have to admit that, were I as angry as he seems to be right now, I probably would have reacted the same way.

I had to contain a sigh as I offered him my help finding a way for him to go back home. It hurt me to say that, and the hopeful look on his face didn't help matter at all. Did he really want to leave so desperately? But I care for him way too much to let something like my selfishness stand in the way of his happiness. I said I would let him go and, if there comes such a time when he asks me to, I will.

And still, I do not want to give up, I simply cannot give up. So I tried a last resort, I asked him for a chance. Once he had calmed down and seemed to accept my apologies and explanations, I mentioned the possibility of there being something between us…well, actually I think I was almost begging by that point, but I really could care less about my dignity when something like this was at stake.

Perhaps the gods finally heard my prayers, or maybe it was just a dash of good luck after such a long record of tragedies, but he agreed. He agreed! I am pretty sure I could have danced of happiness right then and there, but I barely contained myself and expressed my joy with a single kiss. It was a mere kiss on his cheek, but by Ra, it was bliss both infinite and temporary. I think I could get used to this.

We embraced and stood there in my gardens…our gardens. And for just that moment, all was well.

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End file.
